k 


POLO:    PAST   AND    PRESENT 


The  "  CouNTRT  Life 
Library  of  Sport 


rr^ 


POLO 

PAST    AND    PRESENT 


BY 


T.   F.   DALE 


"  DESIPFRE.  IN  LOOO  '^  ■ , 


f','>  :k 


LONDON  :  PUBLISHED  AT  THE  OFFICES 
OF  "COUNTRY  LIFE,"  Ltd.  TAVISTOCK 
STREET,  COVENT  GARDEN,  W.C.  ^  BY 
GEORGE  NEWNES,  Ltd.  SOUTHAMPTON 
STREET,    STRAND,    W.C.  NEW     YORK: 

CHARLES   SCRIBNERS'   SONS  MCMV 


PREFACE 

The  present  work  is  the  result  of  several  years' 
preparation,  and  of  generous  co-operation  on  the  part 
of  many  men  interested  in  the  game.  For  its  form 
and  the  opinions  expressed,  I  am,  of  course,  entirely 
responsible.  Polo :  Past  and  Present  covers  very 
much  ground  not  occupied  by  existing  books  on  the 
game,  and  is  written  from  a  somewhat  different  point 
of  view.  In  the  chapter  on  ancient  polo,  I  have 
gone  back  to  the  authorities  so  far  as  they  were 
known  to  me,  and  have  made  an  endeavour  to 
recover  from  the  past  the  rules  and  methods  of  the 
game.  The  commentaries  on  the  rules  of  polo  of 
England,  America,  India,  and  New  South  Wales 
will,  it  is  hoped,  show  that  these  rules  are  based  on 


3424G4 


vi  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

common  principles,  and  in  what  way  they  vary  to 
meet  the  necessities  of  the  game  in  different  countries. 
It  is  possible  that  these  commentaries  may  be  a 
contribution  to  the  formation  of  a  common  code  of 
rules  for  English-speaking  polo  players.  This  part 
of  the  book  will  be  useful  if  it  leads  to  a  careful 
study  of  the  rules  of  the  game. 

In  writing  of  the  science  and  tactics  of  play,  I 
have  had  the  advantage,  first,  of  a  long  training  in 
India,  the  best  of  all  schools  for  polo  ;  secondly,  I 
have  within  my  own  experience  seen  the  develop- 
ment of  polo  from  small  beginnings  to  a  highly 
organised  and  scientific  game  ;  and,  lastly,  I  have, 
for  ten  years  past,  watched  all  the  best  players 
from  a  point  of  view  which  compelled  considerable 
attention,  and  yet  placed  me  in  a  position  of  detach- 
ment from  occasional  jealousies  and  intrigues,  which 
even  the  politics  of  sport  are  not  free  from.  But, 
of  course,  there  is  the  danger  that  one  may  become 
a  little  fanciful,  or  drop  behind  the  times.  I  am 
therefore  greatly  indebted  to  Captain  L.  C.  D. 
Jenner,  joint  Polo  Manager  of  the  Ranelagh  Club, 
who  read  over  all  the  practical  and  technical  chapters 
with  the  exception  of  the  one  on  Handicapping,  for 
which  I  only  am  responsible.  The  corrections  and 
suggestions  offered  by  him  have  been,  in  almost 
every  case,  incorporated  into  the  text,  and  are,  I 
heartily  acknowledge,  a  most  important  addition  to 
the  usefulness  of  the  book. 

In  the  next  place,  I  was  helped  gready  by  Mr. 
W.  A.  Hazard,  the  Hon.  Secretary  of  the  American 


PREFACE 


vu 


Polo  Association,  who  looked  over  and  corrected  the 
chapter  on  the  American  rules  and  brought  it  up  to 
date  for  me.  Then  Mr.  Dodds  of  Sydney  gave  me 
much  valuable  information  as  to  New  South  Wales 
polo  and  ponies,  of  which,  it  is  needless  to  say,  I  have 
made  use.  I  am  also  indebted  to  Major  Lecky,  R.H.  A., 
the  Hon.  Secretary  of  the  Indian  Polo  Association, 
for  a  copy  of  the  latest  rules,  and  permission  to  use 
some  of  the  admirable  diagrams  to  be  found  therein. 
I  am  further  indebted  for  assistance  and  information 
to  Mr.  Stuart  Duckett,  of  the  Irish  County  Polo 
Union  ;  to  Mr.  A.  M.  Tree,  of  the  Warwickshire 
Club ;  and  to  Captain  E.  D.  Miller  for  an  advance 
copy  of  the  Roehampton  Club  report  for  1905. 
Sir  Richard  Green  Price  has  read  the  chapter  on 
Pony  Breeding  and  made  some  valuable  additions 
and  corrections  which  I  was  glad  to  adopt,  for  there 
is  no  more  thorough  student  of  horse  breeding 
and  of  pedigrees  than  he,  and  I  owe  much  to  his 
knowledge  and  experience,  always  freely  imparted  to 
younger  men. 

Since  this  book  was  in  the  press  one  of  the 
suggestions  which  will  be  found  in  its  pages  has 
taken  a  practical  form.  Major  Fasken  has  laid  before 
the  Indian  Polo  Association  a  proposal,  the  effect  of 
which  would  be  to  bring  us  a  step  nearer  to  the  early 
age  of  polo,  when,  as  I  have  shown  in  the  text,  there 
was  probably,  before  the  tenth  century,  an  international 
code  of  rules.  The  two  chief  obstables  to  such  a 
code  at  the  present  time  are  the  length  of  the  periods 
of  play,  and  offside.     Captain  Miller  is  quite  clear 


viii         POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

that  we  do  not  want  shorter  periods,  but  I  cannot 
help  thinking  that  he  is  a  little  led  away  by  constant 
familiarity  with  ponies  of  the  highest  class.  It  is  the 
opinion  of  many  players,  both  in  this  country  and 
America,  that  ten  minutes  is  too  long  a  period,  and 
adds  to  the  expense  of  the  game  by  diminishing  the 
number  of  ponies  that  are  available.  For  it  must  be 
remembered  that  few  polo  periods  are  ten  minutes 
only,  and  the  better  the  players  and  the  faster  the 
game  the  less  likely  is  the  bail  to  go  out  on  a  boarded 
ground,  so  that  the  ponies  are  often  kept  at  full 
stretch  for  twelve  minutes  or  more.  This  tells 
heavily  against  the  lighter  ponies.  If  one  may  judge 
by  what  one  sees  on  many  polo  grounds,  few  ponies 
can  really  stay,  not  so  much  for  ten-minute  periods 
— though  I  think  that  too  long — as  for  the  length 
of  time  often  entailed  by  the  retention  of  nominally 
ten-minute  periods,  in  which  play  often  lasts  twelve 
or  more  minutes. 

Possibly  Colonel  De  Lisle's  suggestion  of  a  seven- 
minute  period  will  be  found  to  be  the  solution  of  the 
difficulty.  In  any  case  the  existence  of  an  inter- 
national code  of  rules  would  be  a  great  advantage, 
and  ought  not  to  prove  a  task  of  insuperable  diffi- 
culty. There  must,  of  course,  be  concession  on  both 
sides  if  we  are  to  overcome  the  real  difficulty. 

Offside  is  a  rule  which  American  and  Canadian 
players  are  by  no  means  willing  to  accept  in  its 
present  form,  and  the  English  system  of  penal- 
ties is  open  to  the  objection  of  being  unduly 
elaborate,    puzzling    to    the    umpire,    and    causing 


PREFACE  ix 

vexatious  interruptions  to  the  game.  The  book 
which  follows  is  an  endeavour  to  open  the  way  by 
suggestions  for  a  common  international  code,  since 
a  study  of  the  commentaries  on  the  rules  will  show 
how  slight  the  differences  between  English,  American, 
and  Indian  rules  are,  and  how  far  from  fundamental 
are  these  differences. 

The  Appendix  I  have  endeavoured  to  make  as  full 
and  as  varied  in  its  information  as  possible.  In 
practice,  I  found  that  the  book  on  polo  which  is  most 
often  taken  down  from  the  shelves  is  that  which 
contains  the  largest  amount  of  information,  and,  but 
for  the  question  of  space,  I  should  like  to  have  made 
the  Appendix  even  fuller  than  it  is.  I  have  given 
no  list  of  registered  ponies,  as  Messrs.  Vinton  and 
Co.  pubHsh  a  complete  one  in  a  handy  and  con- 
venient form. 

I  have  also  to  make  my  acknowledgments  to 
Mehdi  Khan  of  the  Persian  Embassy,  for  a  kind 
reply  to  some  inquiries  I  addressed  to  him  as  to 
Persian  records  of  polo,  and  to  Mr.  A.  Kayahashi, 
of  the  Japanese  Legation,  for  assistance  in  the 
matter  of  Japanese  polo  and  for  a  letter  (a  part 
of  which  is  quoted  in  the  text)  with  regard  to  the 
present  and  past  popularity  of  polo  in  his  country. 
I  was  most  anxious,  but  have  been  unable  to  trace 
the  connection,  if  any,  between  Byzantine  polo  and 
the  Japanese  game.  There  is  a  certain  similarity 
in  the  games,  and  in  both  was  used  a  stick  with  a 
racquet-shaped  head  not  unlike  a  la  crosse  bat.  If 
we  compare   the  following   sketch  of  the  Japanese 


X  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

game  with  the  description  of  the  game  as  played  by- 
Manuel  Comnenus  in  the  twelfth  century,  we  shall 
see  that  there  are  many  points  in  common  between 
Japanese  and  Byzantine  polo. 

In  the  Japanese  game  the  players  are  twelve, 
divided  into  two  sides,  Genji  and  Heike,  who  are 
distinguished  by  red  and  white  hats.  These  two 
words  are  those  always  used  in  Japanese  games  for 
opposing  sides  and  are  said  to  be  the  names  of  two  rival 
clans  of  Chinese  history.  Each  player  has  a  "  long 
bamboo  stick,  with  a  spoon-shaped  head,  having  a  net- 
work of  cord."  ^  This  stick  is  used  to  lift  the  ball  over 
the  goals,  which  are,  like  our  football  goals,  two  tall 
posts  with  a  cross  bar  or  rope  about  ten  feet  from  the 
ground.  The  opposite  goals  are  marked  by  red  and 
white  flags.  The  object  of  the  game  is  to  throw  the 
balls  over  the  goal.  Of  these,  each  side  has  thirty- 
six,  and  the  game  goes  to  the  side  which  has  thrown 
out,  and  over  the  goal  line,  all  the  balls  belonging  to 
the  adversary.  The  game  naturally  becomes  more 
interesting  and  exciting  as  the  balls  grow  fewer. 
There  is  often  a  desperate  struggle  over  the  last  one. 
It  is  easy  to  see  that  this  game  must  be  very  exciting 
and  that  both  sides  would  have  to  attack  and  defend 
in  turn.  It  is  a  very  interesting  variant  of  the  game, 
and  we  can  understand  its  popularity  among  a  war- 
like people  like  the  Japanese.^  We  have  sometimes  - 
been  reproached  with  too  great  fondness  for  games  in- 
England,  but,  at  all  events,  no  vigorous  nation  has^ 

^   The  Mikado" i  Empire.     Griffiths.      1902. 
2  Sec  p.  15  for  Byzantine  Polo. 


PREFACE 


XI 


ever  lacked  enthusiasm  for  warlike  sports,  and  there 
is  no  surer  sign  of  decadence,  in  individuals  or 
nations,  than  indifference  to  active  participation  in 
sport  and  games,  or  a  desire  to  exchange  the  part  of 
player  for  that  of  spectator.  The  value  of  a  game 
or  sport  is  in  direct  proportion  to  the  labour  and 
(within  certain  limits)  to  the  personal  risk  involved 
by  taking  part  in  it.  Judged  by  this  standard,  polo 
deserves  a  high  place  among  English  games,  such  as  - 
we  see  it  has  already  occupied  in  other  nations  in 
their  prime. 

The  tabular  arrangement  ot  the  clubs  will,  it  is 
to  be  hoped,  be  found  a  convenience,  and  has  been 
referred  to  the  various  secretaries,  to  whom  my  best 
thanks  are  here  returned  for  their  kindness  in  filling 
up  the  forms  sent  out. 

The  book  will,  I  hope,  be  found  to  contain  trust- 
worthy information  as  to  the  past  history  and  present 
development  of  the  game,  while  in  the  practical  part 
I  have  made  an  attempt  to  reach  the  underlying 
principles  of  polo.  The  game  has  indeed  many 
sides.  It  depends  on  the  training  of  the  ponies, 
the  practice  of  the  players,  the  state  of  the 
ground,  and  the  temper  and  character  of  the 
men  who  take  part  in  it.  It  is  difficult  to  see  it 
as  a  whole,  yet  that  is  what  has  been  attempted 
here. 

The  future  of  the  game  is  no  doubt  assured,  yet 
there  are  possible  hindrances  to  its  progress  which 
are  not  more  dangerous  because  they  are  faced 
in  time.     These  will  occur  to  many  of  my  readers. 


xu 


POLO  :  PAST  AND  PRESENT 


I  know,  because  some  have  been  pointed  out  to  me 
while  I  have  been  preparing  the  book.  Yet  those 
who  have  watched  the  growth  of  polo  hitherto,  can- 
not fail  to  see  its  great  future  possibilities  under 
wise  and  prudent  guidance. 


April  1905. 


CONTENTS 


CHAP. 

I.  Ancient  Polo 


2.  The  Hurlingham  Club  and  its  Influence  on  Polo 

3.  The  Ranelagh  Club  and  the  Expansion  of  Polo 

4.  The    Growth    of    Polo    in    London  and  the   Pro- 

vinces ..... 

5.  Regimental  Polo    .... 

6.  The  Training  of  the  Pony    . 

7.  Elementary  Polo    .... 

8.  Tournament  Polo  and  Team-Play 

9.  Umpires  and  Referees     . 
10.  The  Pony  and  Stable  Management 


PAGE 

I 

24 

54 

75 

94 
117 

148 
166 
188 
196 


xiv         POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

CHAP, 

11.  Polo  Pony  Breeding        ..... 

12.  The  Polo  Club:  Its  Appliances  and  Expenses 

13.  Recollections  of  Twenty  Years    . 

14.  Thoughts  and  Suggestions  on  Handicapping 

15.  Polo  in  Australia 

16.  Polo  in  America     .... 

17.  The  Rules  of  Polo  in  England     . 

18.  Rules  of  the  Indian  Polo  Association 

Appendix 

Index     ...... 


PAGE 

225 
242 
266 
286 
295 
322 

369 

405 

507 


LIST   OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


The  Polo  Ground  at  Hurlingham  ....     Frontispiece 

Polo   in    Persia  :     Siawusch    playing    before 

AfrSsiab         ......      To  face  page       i 

Stick  Crooking  in  Ancient  Polo     .         .         .         „         „         4. 

The  Ladies'  Stand  :  The  two   men  in  fore- 
ground are  making  near-side  strokes         .         „         „  5 

Polo  in  India    before    the    Emperor   Akbar  : 

Five  a-side    .         .  .         .         .         .         „         ,,12 

Polo  in  Japan  :  Japanese  and  Byzantine  form 

of  stick  :  Leathern  Ball  .         .         .         ,,         „        16 

Inter-Regimental   Polo  Tournament  at  Hur- 
lingham        ......,,„       24 

The   Champion  Cup  at  Hurlingham  :  a   Run 

on  the  Ball ,,         ,,25 


XVI 


POLO  :  PAST  AND  PRESENT 


On  the  Old  Ground 
Capt.    L.    C.    D 
GilL    H 


Hurlingham  Club  House  :  Garden  Front 

Hurlingham  Polo  Pavilion     . 

Major  Egerton  Green:  Late    12th  Lancers 

Manager  of  the  Hurlingham  Club  . 
A  Scene  at  the  Inter-Regimental  Tournament 
Fast  Play  along  the  Boards    . 
A  Wet  Day  on  a  Bumpy  Ground 
Across  the  Ground 
Stopping  a  Run    . 
Ranelagh  Club  House  . 
Ranelagh  Polo  Pavilion. 
Ranelagh    Team,     1905 

Jenner,  A.  Rawlinson,   F.  A 

Scott  Robson 

Pace 

The  Polo  Grounds  at  Ranelagh 

The  New  Pavilion  at  Ranelagh 

The  Pavilion  at  Roehampton 

Polo  Ground  at  Roehampton 

Waiting  for  the  Umpire 

"Keeping  him  off" 

Wimbledon  Ground 

A  Soldiers'  Match  at  Wimbledon 

17th  Lancers  Team 

Attack  V.  Defence  :  The  Royal  Horse  Guards 

Goal  in  Danger  .... 
Inter-Regimental  Polo  :  A  close  Contest 
A  Melee  in  the  Middle  of  the  Ground  . 
A  Miss  is  as  good  as  a  Mile  . 


To  face  page     32 
„       33 


36 

37 
44 
45 
48 

49 
54 
55 


58 

59 
64 

65 

80 
81 
84 

85 
92 

93 

100 

lOI 

104 

105 
108 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


xvii 


Clearing  the  Ball  out  of  Scrimmage  near  Goal     To  face  page  109 

"  Lady  Jane's  "  Toilet „         „      116 

"Lady  Grey."     A  Good  "  Back  "  Pony         .         „         ,,117 
"Matchbox."     This   Pony  played   in   Seven 

Open  Cups.     Bred  in  Yorkshire.     Pedi- 
gree unknown „         ,,124 

"  Bendigo."    Bred  in  Canada.    Played  Pony  in 

every  Open  Tournament  from   1898  to 

1902 „         „      125 

A  Good  '*  Forward  "  Pony.     The  property  of 

Mr.  F.  M.  Freake  .  .  .  .  „         ,,128 

"Patricia."      Of   the  Thoroughbred   Stamp. 

The  property  of  Mr.  Buckmaster   .         .         ,,         ,,129 
"  Old  Dutch."    Fine  Type  of  Weight-carrier. 

The  property  of  Mr.  W.  W.  Astor  .         „         „      132 

"  Gown  Boy."       Property  of  the  Radnorshire 

Polo  and  Riding  Pony  Company,  Ltd.    .         „         »      ^33 
"Rose  Stalk."       First  Prize,  Islington,  1905. 

The  property  of  the  Hon.  Mrs.  Ives        .         „         ,,140 
"  Rupert."     Polo-bred  Stallion,  bred  by  Miss 

L.  Standish.     Winner  of  many  Prizes     .         „         „      141 
"  Summer  Lightning."    A  good  Playing  Pony. 

Bred  by  Mr.  John  Barker       .         .  ,         „         ,,144 

"  Constance."    First  Prize  Polo  Pony  at  Isling- 
ton, 1905.     The  property  of  Capt.  Phipps 

Hornby „         ,,145 

A  Help-Meet       .'....„„     148 
The  Off-side  Forward  Stroke  under  the  Pony's 

neck „         „     149 


xviii        POLO  :  PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Mr.  Rawlinson  on  the 


A  Clean  Backhander. 

White  Pony 
Watching  the  "  Back  ' 
"  Ridden  ofF" 
"  Turn  your  Ponies  " 
Mr.  W.  S.  Buckmaster,  Captain  of  the  Old 

Cantabs  ..... 
A  Long  Shot  ..... 
International  Polo.  A  Goal  to  England 
Trying  to  ride  him  off  ... 

The  Umpire  bowling  in  the  Ball  . 
The  Umpire  watching 
"  Slavin."     An  Argentine  Pony  that  has  been 

played  in  Champion  Cups  by  Mr.  G.  A 

Miller 

"Conceit."     The    property   of   the    Earl    of 

Shrewsbury  and  Talbot . 
Steady  Work 
"Gillieflower."      Polo    Pony    Stallion,    First 

Prize,  Ranelagh,  1904.     The  property  of 

the  Hon.  Mrs.  Ives        .... 
"Black    Bella."      A    First-Class   Pony,   now 

retired  from  active  service 
"  Langosta."     A  First-Class  Argentine  . 
"  Sandiway."     This  Pony  is  the  Sire  of  more 

Winners  than  any  other  of  the  day 
Welsh  Mountain  Ponies        .... 
Brood  Mares  on  Polo  Pony  Farm  at  Bleddfa  . 
Two-year  old  Fillies     ..... 


To  face  page  156 

168 
169 

176 

184- 


185 


[92 
93 


196 

197 
200 


201 

204 

205 

209 
210 
211 
214 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


XIX 


5J      iy 


M  >» 


2l8 


219 


223 


224 


Exercise To  face  page  2\^ 

"Antre."     Polo  Pony  Stallion.     The  property 

of  Mr.  John  Barker 
"  Rosemary."     Bred  by  Miss  Standish.     Now 

the  property  of  Sir  Patteson  Nickalls 
"  Miss  Day."     The  property  of  Mr.  S.  Moor 

house 

"  Combination."  Polo-bred  Stallion.  Property 

of  the  Earl  of  Leitrim    .         .* 
"  Bully  Boy."    First  Prize  Yearling  Colt,  1905 

By    Mark    Forward.       King's    Premium 

Horse 

The  Polo  Pavilion  on  Third  Ground  at  Rane 

lagh 

Plan  of  the  Ranelagh  Polo  Pavilion 

The  Ground  in  Good  Condition    . 

Scoring  Boards  on  Nos.  2  and  3  Grounds  at 

Ranelagh       ..... 
The  Captain  ..... 

The  Rugby  "Back,"    1897,   1898,    1899:  A 

Memory        ..... 
International   Polo.      The  Americans  defend 

their  Goal     ..... 
American  Team,  1902  :    R.  Agassiz,  Foxhall 

Keene,    M.   Waterbury,   J.   Cowdin,   L 

Waterbury    ..... 
The     Old     Cantabs ;     the     Champion     Cup 

Winners  of  1900  ..... 
"  Early  Dawn."    The  property  of  Mr.  Tresham 


„     225 
»         »     232 


»»  n 


240 

241 
248 

249 

256 

257 

258 


XX  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Gilbey.     First-Class  Tournament  Pony,  now  a  Brood 
Mare     and     Winner     of     Championship,     Islington, 

1905 

Mr.  Reginald  C.  Vanderbilt .... 

Mr.  H.  L.  Herbert,  President  American  Polo 
Association  ...... 

The  Lakewood  Team  ..... 

On  an  American  Ground.     Open  Play  . 

An  American  Polo  Team  at  Home.  Mr.  Fox- 
hall  Keene  making  a  Run 

Polo  in  America.     Mr.  Cowdin  making  a  Run 

Mr.  William  A.  Hazard,  Hon.  Secretary 
American  Polo  Association      .         .  . 

Mr.  R.  La  Montaigne 

Mr.  Buckmaster  and  Mr;  Foxhall  Keene.  The 
Champion  Polo  Players  of  Two  Continents 

In  Possession  of  the  Ball        .         .  •  . 

A  Fall.     The  Game  is  stopped  by  the  Umpire 

Plan  of  Polo  Ground     ..... 

Examples  of  Crossing  and  Possession  of  the 
Ball      . 

Diagram  illustrating  Penalties  i  and  2    . 

Diagram  illustrating  Penalty  3        .  .  . 

From  a  Throw-In  ..... 

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•f'v^it^'ifflrff- 


POLO    IN    PERSIA. 
SIAWUSCH    PLAYING    BEFORE    AFRASI2B. 


CHAPTER  1 


t 


ANCIENT    POLO 

Polo  is  perhaps  the  most  ancient  of  games.  When 
history  was  still  legend  we  find  polo  flourishing. 
All  our  best  games  are  derived  from  it,  and  cricket, 
golf,  hockey,  and  the  national  Irish  game  of  hurling 
are  all  descendants  of  polo.  The  historic  order  was 
reversed  when  in  England  polo  on  its  first  intro- 
duction was  called  "hockey  on  horseback,"  and  in 
Ireland  "hurling  on  horseback."  In  reality  these 
games  are  polo  on  foot. 

The   cradle  of  polo   was  Persia,  and  from   that 
country  the  game  spread  all  over  the  East,  taking 

I  B 


2  POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

root   most  firmly  in   India,   and  at   Constantinople 
under  the  Byzantine  Emperors. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  separate  legend  and  history 
in  the  stories  of  Oriental  lands — so  much  of  the 
history  is  legendary,  so  many  of  the  legends  are 
historical.  But,  however  we  may  puzzle  over  the 
succession  and  even  the  identity  of  the  kings  of  the 
various  dynasties,  of  one  thing  we  may  be  absolutely 
sure,  that  from  the  earliest  times  to  the  eighteenth 
century  there  was  always  polo  at  the  Persian  court. 
Every  Persian  king  either  took  part  in  the  game  or 
looked  on  while  his  courtiers  played. 

I  have  examined  the  various  authorities  in  order 
to  see  if  it  was  possible  to  reconstruct  the  old  Persian 
polo  from  their  writings.  I  felt  that  this  would  be 
more  interesting  than  the  mere  record  of  the  references 
to  the  game  in  the  pages  of  poets  and  historians.  So 
I  have  endeavoured  to  discover  what  their  methods 
of  play  were,  in  the  old  days,  what  rules  they  played 
under,  and  in  what  ways  the  game  varied  or  developed 
during  successive  periods  and  in  different  countries. 

Persian  polo  differed  from  the  game  in  other 
countries  by  the  fact  that  it  was  a  national  sport.  In 
the  poetical  histories  or  historical  poems  in  which 
Persian  literature  is  so  rich,  the  heroes  are  often 
celebrated  for  their  skill  at  polo.  Nor  are  their 
victories  in  war  or  love  described  in  language  more 
high  flown.  This  shows  the  esteem  in  which  the 
game  was  held.  The  Persians  were  a  nation  of 
horsemen,  and  every  Persian  youth  of  rank  was 
taught  not  merely  to  ride,  but  to  be  at  home  in  the 


ANCIENT  POLO  3 

saddle.  It  has  more  than  once  occurred  to  me,  while 
writing  this  chapter,  as  strange  that  polo,  which 
must  have  been  well  known  to  the  peoples  that  came 
in  contact  with  the  Persians — the  Greeks,  the 
Romans,  and  the  English, — should  never  have  made 
its  way  into  their  countries.  The  reason  in  all 
probability  was  the  inferiority  of  the  horsemanship  ^ 
of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  and  the  lack  of  suitable 
horses.  The  Persians  on  the  other  hand  had  in 
their  horses  light,  active,  well-bred  animals  of  Arab 
type,  and  about  14.2  in  height. 

It  seems  likely  that  while  the  natural  gift  for,  and 
acquired  skill  in  horsemanship  must  have  encouraged 
polo,  this  game  improved  the  riding  of  the  Persians 
and  increased  the  efficiency  of  their  cavalry.  There 
is  no  such  school  of  horsemanship  as  polo,  especially 
for  acquiring  the  strong,  easy,  confident  seat  that 
is  desired  for  modern  cavalry,  according  to  the 
latest  official  instructions  on  their  training.  We 
speak,  however,  of  polo  generally,  but  there  have 
been  no  less  than  five,  or,  including  our  modern 
game,  six  varieties  of  polo  during  its  existence  of  at 
least  2000  years.  Some  of  the  variations  in  the 
game  are  considerable.  For  example,  there  was  the 
Indian  form  known  as  r^/,  which  consisted  in 
dribbling  the  ball  along  the  ground,  and  the  interest 
of  which  lay  in  keeping  possession  of  it  by  means  of 
dexterous  turns  and  twists  of  a  long  stick  ;  and  the 
Byzantine  form  of  the  game,  which  I  do  not  know 

^  A  distinguished  scholar  has  suggested  to  me  that  the  want  of  stirrups  was 
the  more  probable  reason. 


4  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

better  how  to  describe  than  by  saying  that  it  was  a 
kind  of  la  crosse  on  horseback.  Of  both  these  I 
shall  have  occasion  to  write  later  on. 

In  ancient  polo  there  are  only  three  constant 
things,  the  horse,  the  ball,  and  an  instrument  to 
strike  the  latter  with.  Everything  else  varied,  the 
number  of  players,  the  size  of  the  ground,  the  height 
of  the  horses,  the  shape  of  the  stick,  and  even  the 
material  of  which  the  ball  was  made.  This  last  has, 
at  all  events  since  the  game  made  its  way  to  the 
borders  of  Thibet,  been  known  as  polo  from  a 
Thibetan  word  signifying  willow  root,  from  which 
material  our  English  polo  balls  are  still  turned.  All 
polo  balls  were  made  of  wood,  except  that  in  the 
twelfth  century  the  ball  used  in  Byzantine  polo  was 
either  made  of,  or  covered  with  leather. 

The  horse  ridden  was,  I  think,  most  commonly 
the  ordinary  Arab  of  about  14.2  ;  but  some  ancient 
pictures  show  that  two  kinds  of  ponies  were  some- 
times used — first  the  larger  Arab,  and  secondly  a 
small,  active,  somewhat  coarse  pony,  which  was 
probably  a  hill  pony.  It  is  of  course  quite  possible 
that,  like  the  modern  pony  breeder,  the  old  Persian 
appreciated  the  value  for  polo  of  a  cross  of  true  pony 
blood.  But,  however  that  may  be,  the  pictures  are 
only  evidence  of  the  stamp  of  ponies  used  in  the 
artist's  own  time. 

The  polo  stick  has  varied  very  much,  and  as  in 
our  day  there  is  no  standard  for  the  length  of  the 
stick,  the  shape  of  the  head,  or  the  angle  at  which 
the  latter  is  fixed  to  the  head,  but  each  player  uses 


?       c      •', 


THE    LADIES'    STAND. 
THE    TWO    MEN    IN    FOREGROUND    ARE    MAKING    NEAR    SIDE    STROKES. 


ANCIENT  POLO  5 

the  kind  that  suits  him  best,  so  in  ancient  times  the 
shape  and  length  of  the  stick  varied  gready.  The 
earliest  form  of  which  we  know  anything  had  a  kind 
of  spoon-shaped  head,  and  this  was  probably  not  used, 
as  one  or  two  writers  have  suggested,  for  carrying 
the  ball,  but  for  those  lofty  strokes  which,  as  we 
see  from  the  account  in  the  Shdh-ndma^  were  much 
admired. 

This  shape  of  stick  was  a  survival  of  a  still  earlier 
form  of  polo  than  has  come  down  to  us  in  the  old 
pictures.  I  think  it  seems  likely  that  the  earliest 
game  was  simply  a  trial  of  skill  with  the  stick  and 
ball,  that  there  were  no  limits  to  the  ground  nor  were 
there  any  goals.  The  players  simply  tried  to  outdo 
each  other  in  fancy  strokes,  such  as  hitting  the  ball 
into  the  air,  striking  or  volleying  it  while  flying. 
The  struggle  was  for  the  possession  of  the  ball,  and 
those  were  adjudged  the  victors  who  showed  most 
skill  and  address  in  the  use  of  the  stick  and  the 
management  of  their  horses.  The  division  into 
sides,  the  establishment  of  rules,  and  the  erection  of 
goals  were  later  developments.  The  more  orderly 
game  soon  modified  the  stick,  which  became  first  a 
hockey  stick  and  then  a  hammer-headed  mallet  such 
as  we  have  now.  I  imagine  that  the  two  forms  of 
polo,  the  orderly  game,  and  the  exercise  of  skill  in 
horsemanship  and  in  the  use  of  the  stick,  existed  side 
by  side  for  some  time,  and  that  we  have  accounts  of 
both.  In  the  earlier  stage  of  the  game  a  ball  or  balls 
were  flung  down  and  an  unlimited  number  of  young 
men  exhibited  their  skill  before  the  king  and  his  court. 


6  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

In  the  later  phase  sides  were  chosen,  rules  observed, 
and  the  game  was  played  much  as  we  play  it  now. 

There  were  also  three  ways  of  starting  the  game  ; 
the  first  and  most  ancient,  which  came  from  the 
primitive  polo,  is  that  retained  in  Manipur  and 
Gilgit  to  this  day.  The  chief  man  among  the 
players  gallops  down  carrying  the  ball  till  he  reaches 
the  middle  of  the  ground,  when  he  throws  it  up  into 
the  air  and  hits  it  flying.  "  A  hit  should  be  made 
from  the  centre  of  the  ground,  and  a  good  man  will 
often  hit  a  goal.  The  starter  on  his  side  must  be 
able  to  pick  up  the  ball  for  the  goal  to  count.  The 
man  who  has  hit  the  goal  will  throw  himself  off  his 
pony  and  try  to  pick  up  the  ball  while  the  other  side 
with  fine  impartiality  hit  him  or  the  ball  or  ride  over 
him  in  their  endeavour  to  save  the  goal."  ^  In  this 
sentence  I  fancy  I  find  another  survival  of  ancient 
polo,  and  that  we  have  here  one  of  the  oldest  rules  of 
the  game.  If  this  was  so  it  may  be  almost  a  source 
of  wonder  that  polo  never  found  its  way  into  the 
Roman  amphitheatre.  A  game  by  professionals  with 
rules  like  this  might  have  been  exciting  enough  and 
sufficiently  dangerous  to  make  a  Roman  holiday. 
The  ball  was  also  from  a  very  early  time  bowled 
in,  much  as  our  umpires  do  now,  between  the  players 
drawn  up  in  two  ranks.  The  third  way  was  to  place 
the  ball  in  the  centre  of  the  ground.  The  two  sides 
were  then  drawn  up,  each  on  its  respective  back 
line,  started  at  a  signal  and  raced  for  the  possession 
of  the  ball. 

*  The  Making  of  a  Frontier^  Colonel  A.  Durand,  p.  20. 


ANCIENT  POLO  7 

The  grounds  varied  in  size,  but  their  surfaces  were 
as  carefully  looked  after  as  they  are  now.  The 
Persian  polo  ground  was  sometimes  twice  as  long  as 
ours  but  seldom  more  than  170  yards  in  breadth. 
This  shows  us  that  polo  must  have  been  a  fast-gallop- 
ing game.  On  the  other  hand,  the  strokes  used  were 
much  the  same  as  ours,  and  players  were  particularly 
fond  of  the  stroke  under  the  pony's  neck  to  the  left 
front  of  the  player.  Long  shots  at  the  goal  were  then, 
as  now,  often  attempted  by  the  best  players.  The 
fixed  goals  show  that  they  used  an  established  ground. 
The  posts  were  of  stone,  and,  if  we  may  judge  by  the 
old  pictures,  solidly  and  firmly  built.  This  must 
have  been  dangerous,  for  we  know  that  even  the 
wooden  posts  used  before  the  paper  ones  were  intro- 
duced caused  several  accidents.  On  the  other  hand, 
we  must  remember  that  the  Persians  were  extra- 
ordinarily skilful  and  practised  horsemen  of  the 
Oriental  type,  that  their  ponies  were  of  Eastern 
breeds  accustomed  to  stop  and  to  wheel  on  their 
haunches,  and  were  strongly  bitted.  No  Oriental 
ever  lets  his  horse  out  of  his  hand.  His  horse's 
hind  legs  are  always  well  under  him,  and  the  Arab 
horse  is  from  hereditary  habit  the  handiest  of  animals, 
as  those  who  have  ridden  him  after  a  jinking  hog 
know  well.  Thus  the  danger  was  less  than  it  would 
be  with  English  ponies.  These  permanent  goal-posts 
were  twenty-four  feet  apart,  giving  the  same  length 
of  goal  line  as  we  have  to-day.  In  the  best  ancient 
polo,  as  in  our  first-class  matches  in  modern  times, 
there  were  four  players  on  each  side.     Combination 


8  POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

and  team-play  were  undoubtedly  understood,  as  I 
shall  presently  show,  and  there  were  some  very  clearly 
defined  rules. 

It  was  certainly  forbidden  to  stand  over  the  ball, 
and  perhaps  to  slacken  speed  before  you  hit  it,  but 
at  all  events  it  was  considered  bad  form  not  to  gallop. 
It  was  also  thought  to  be  bad  play  to  hang  about 
outside  the  game  for  the  chance  of  a  run,  and  I  think 
that  about  the  tenth  century  there  was  a  rule  which 
forbade  offside.  When  I  write  of  rules  I  do 
not  of  course  know  if  there  was  a  written  code, 
but  it  is  certain  there  was  a  traditional  form 
of  rules  and  etiquette  handed  down  and  strictly 
adhered  to. 

Polo  was  taken  very  seriously  in  Persia  and  India. 
Skill  and  address  at  the  game  were  recommendations 
to  promotion  at  court.  It  was  thought  that  polo 
was  a  game  that  showed  the  character  of  the  player 
and  tested  his  temper,  courage,  and  disposition.  The 
Emperor  Akbar  watched  his  young  nobles  and 
soldiers  at  the  game,  and  formed  his  conclusions  as 
to  their  fitness  for  service  from  their  demeanour. 
Certainly  we  have  reason  to  think  after  the  experience 
of  our  last  war  in  South  Africa  that  such  a  method 
of  selection  would  not  work  badly. 

Now  let  us  turn  to  the  authorities  on  which  these 
conclusions  as  to  ancient  polo  are  based.  It  is  one 
of  the  facts  which  show  us  how  deeply  polo  was 
rooted  as  a  national  sport  in  the  affections  of  the 
Persians,  that  allusions  to  it  are  so  frequent  in  their 
poets.     The    Persians  loved  and    indeed    still   love 


ANCIENT  POLO  9 

poetry  gready,  and  therefore  polo  must  have  been 
thoroughly  known  and  understood,  since  it  is  so 
often  used  in  the  metaphors  of  the  poets,  and 
references  to  the  game  are  continual.  Indeed,  one 
mystic  poem  is  called  "  Stick  and  Ball."  It  would 
occupy  too  much  space  to  compile  an  anthology  of 
polo  from  the  Persian  poets.  But  we  may  note  some 
of  the  more  remarkable  passages  on  which  I  have 
based  my  reconstruction  of  ancient  polo.  And 
perhaps  I  cannot  begin  better  than  by  a  translation 
and  commentary  on  the  account  of  the  first  recorded 
international  polo  match.  This  is  taken  from  the 
Shdh-nama^  the  Iliad  of  Persia.  This  match  was  played 
perhaps  at  Tashkend  between  the  Iranians  and  the 
Turanians.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  two  countries,  though  constantly  at  war, 
are  supposed  by  the  poet  to  be  equally  well  acquainted 
with  the  game,  and  to  have  had  a  common  code  of 
rules.  The  occasion  of  the  match  was  as  follows  :— 
Siawusch,  a  Persian  prince,  had  taken  refuge  at  the 
court  of  Afrasiab,  king  of  the  Turks,  having  fallen 
into  disgrace  at  his  father's  court,  a  woman  being, 
as  usual  in  the  East,  at  the  bottom  of  the  mischief 
Even  though  Siawusch  had  proved  his  innocence  by 
passing  through  the  ordeal  of  fire,  yet  the  lady's 
word  was  taken  against  his,  and  the  young  prince 
went  into  exile. 

With  some  faithful  companions  he  took  refuge  at 
the  court  of  Afrasiab,  the  hereditary  foe  of  his  race 
and  family,  and  was  by  him  well  received  and  treated. 
Were  they  not  both  keen  polo  players  }     No  doubt 


lo  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Afrasiab  saw  in  the  arrival  of  the  Persians  the  prospect 
of  an  unusually  interesting  match.  The  king  gave 
them  a  week  to  rest  the  ponies  in,  and  then  one 
night  after  dinner  he  proposed  to  Siawusch  a  polo 
match  in  the  morning.  "  I  have  always  heard,"  he 
added,  "  what  a  great  player  you  are,  and  that  when 
you  hit  the  ball  no  one  else  has  a  chance."  To 
which  Siawusch  replies  that  he  is  quite  sure  that  in 
polo  as  in  everything  else  the  king  is  his  superior, 
and  then  follows  half  a  page  of  an  exchange  of 
elaborate  compliments.  Neither,  however,  as  will  be 
seen,  meant  to  throw  away  a  chance  of  winning.  In 
the  morning  the  players  were  early  on  the  ground 
in  the  highest  spirits,  galloping  their  ponies  and 
knocking  the  ball  about.  Then  the  king  proposed 
to  Siawusch  a  "  pick  up "  game,  each  to  choose 
six  men  from  Afrasiab's  followers.  Siawusch  was 
too  good  a  courtier  to  permit  this,  and  he  begs  the 
king  to  allow  him  to  play  on  the  same  side  as  his 
majesty.  "  If  indeed  you  think  me  good  enough," 
says  the  prince  with  a  modest  politeness.  But  the 
king,  resolved  not  to  be  done  out  of  his  game, 
hints  that  he  is  determined  to  have  a  match, 
reminds  the  prince  that  his  reputation  as  a  player  is 
at  stake,  and  urges  that  on  his  side  he  wants  to  test 
his  visitor's  skill.  On  this  Siawusch  yields  and  the 
king  arranges  the  sides,  picking  out  the  best  players 
for  himself,  especially  Nestiken,  "  wonderfully  keen 
at  riding  off,"  and  Human,  "  noted  for  his  control 
of  the  ball."  To  Siawusch  he  only  gave  the  hard 
riders,  and  the  prince  was  not  disposed  to  acquiesce. 


ANCIENT  POLO  ii 

He  objects  that  this  will  never  do,  and  that  the  king's 
own  men  will  not  support  a  stranger  :  "  I  shall  be 
left  to  hit  the  ball  alone."  Then  comes  a  passage 
from  which  I  infer  two  things — first,  that  polo  had 
in  those  early  days  a  code  of  rules  common  to  the 
different  countries  in  Asia  in  which  it  was  played  ; 
secondly,  that  "  team "  play  or  combination  was 
appreciated  and  practised.  For  Siawusch  was  anxious 
to  have  his  own  team,  and  begged  to  be  allowed  to 
bring  on  to  the  ground  his  Persian  followers,  "  who 
will  play  in  combination  with  me  according  to  the 
rules  of  international  polo."  I  am  not  quite  sure 
that  the  king  was  pleased — "  he  listened  and  agreed," 
is  the  curt  remark  of  the  poet,  and  this  is  in  contrast 
to  the  flow  of  compliments  that  had  taken  place 
when  King  Afrasiab  thought  he  was  going  to  have 
things  his  own  way.  Siawusch  then  picks  six 
first-class  players.  They  played  apparently  seven 
a-side. 

"  Then  the  band  began  to  play,  and  the  air  was 
filled  with  dust,"  which  will  recall  familiar  experiences 
to  Anglo-Indian  players.  "  You  would  have  thought 
there  was  an  earthquake,  so  great  was  the  noise  of 
trumpets  and  cymbals."  This  is  quite  the  Oriental 
idea  of  a  band. 

The  king  started  the  game  by  bowling  in  the 
ball,  which  we  are  told  he  did  "in  the  correct 
manner,"  here  again  giving  a  trace  of  a  rule. 
Siawusch  was  quick  on  it  and  before  it  had  touched 
the  ground  skied  the  ball  in  true  Oriental  style,  hitting 
so  hard  that  it  was  lost.      Then  the  mighty  king 


12  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

ordered  another  ball  to  be  brought  to  Siawusch  (new 
ball,  umpire !).  The  prince  took  it,  kissed  it  (the  band 
began  to  play  cymbals  and  drums  da  capo)^  Siawusch 
changed  ponies,  and  this  time  himself  started  the  game 
by  throwing  the  ball  into  the  air  and  hitting  it  flying. 
He  was  a  hard  hitter  and  something  of  a  gallery 
player,  but  he  thoroughly  enjoyed  the  game.  "  His 
face  glowed  with  pleasure  and  excitement,"  says  the 
poet.  Every  one  said  they  had  never  seen  such  a 
horseman  and  player  as  the  prince,  and  the  king 
observed  that  his  play  and  his  good  looks,  which 
latter  gift  by  the  way  was  the  cause  of  his  exile — 
exceeded  even  the  report  he  had  heard  of  him. 

Then,  after  this  exhibition  play,  the  real  inter- 
national match  began,  Afrasiab  and  Siawusch  look- 
ing on  while  their  respective  followers  played  in  the 
great  match  Iran  v.  Turan.  There  was  a  fast,  well- 
fought  game.  "  Now  one  side,  now  another  held 
possession  of  the  ball,  and  the  air  was  full  of  dust  and 
Persian  expletives."  The  Turks  had  the  worst  of  it 
and  lost  their  tempers.  Siawusch  was  rather  alarmed 
and  was  angry  with  his  followers  for  their  injudicious 
conduct.  He  spoke  in  Pahlavi,  a  curious  ancient 
language  of  the  sixth  century,  written  in  an  Aramaic 
character  and  with  a  Persian  pronunciation.  This 
was  not  understanded  of  the  Turks.  "  Do  you  for- 
get that  you  are  only  playing  a  game,  not  lighting  a 
battle  }  "  he  said.  "  As  soon  as  the  game  is  finished  " 
— even  discretion  would  not  bring  them  away,  we  see, 
until  the  call  of  "Time  ! " — "  come  away  and  leave  the 
ball  to  the  Turks."    The  Persian  players  took  a  pull  and 


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ANCIENT  POLO  13 

from  that  moment,  we  are  told,  they  gave  their  ponies 
an  easy  time.  "  The  Turks  after  this  had  the  game 
much  to  themselves."  But  Afrasiab  was  too  good  a 
player  not  to  understand  that  his  side  was  beaten.  I 
am  glad  to  be  able  to  say  that  the  Turks  forgot  their 
ill  feeling  and  drank  Siawusch's  health  at  dinner  like 
sportsmen. 

Other  traces  of  the  game  are  found  in  the  historical 
romance  of  Ardishir  (written  in  Pahlavi)  where  there 
are  references  to  polo,  and  we  are  told  that  the 
conqueror's  military  exploits  were  foreshadowed  by 
his  successes  in  the  polo  field.  Then  Bahram  IV., 
whose  exploits  are  also  narrated  in  the  Shdh-ndma^ 
had  tutors  to  teach  him  reading,  hunting,  and  polo. 
I  gather  from  his  history  that  the  last  two  were  more 
successful  than  the  first.  He  was  a  jovial,  hearty 
sportsman  of  a  type  more  popular  with  the  people 
than  approved  by  historians.  One  of  the  most 
interesting  references  to  polo  is  to  be  found  in 
Nizami,  a  poet  who  flourished  about  the  middle  of 
the  twelfth  century — and  in  this  case  we  are  on  firm 
historic  ground.  Khusru  Parvez  (or  the  conqueror) 
appears  in  Gibbon  {Decline  and  Fall^  ch.  xlvi.)  as 
Chosroes  II.  He  was  restored  to  his  throne  by  the 
Emperor  Maurice  of  Byzantium  at  the  end  of  the 
sixth  century  of  our  era.  He  was  a  Zoroastrian, 
but  his  queen,  Shirin,  was  a  Roman  by  birth  and  a 
Christian  by  religion.  The  Greek  historians  say 
that  she  was  a  daughter  of  the  Emperor  Maurice, 
who  was  of  Roman  descent.  She  was  a  woman  of 
beauty  and  brains,  and  she  had  great  ascendency  over 


14  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Khusru,  whose  passion  for  her  is  the  subject  of  a  poem 
only  second  in  interest  to  the  Shdh-ndma. 

Khusru  and  Shirin*s  peace  was  somewhat  troubled 
by  the  queen^s  fancy  for  a  youth,  by  name  Ferhad, 
and  by  Gurdiya  who  afterwards  married  Khusru,  in 
spite  of  Shirin's  efforts  to  prevent  it.  The  point 
which  interests  us  is  that  not  only  Khusra  and  Ferhad 
but  also  Shirin,  Gurdiya,  and  their  attendant  ladies 
were  polo  players.  The  ladies  rode,  however,  cavalier 
fashion,  and  sat  in  their  saddles  like  Cypresses — the 
true  easy  polo  seat.  This  is  said  of  the  seventy  veiled 
maidens  who  accompanied  Shirin  to  the  presence  of 
the  king.  Having  heard  that  their  skill  in  archery 
and  polo  was  equal  to  their  looks,  the  king  started 
for  the  polo  ground,  more,  however,  to  see  the  ladies 
than  their  polo — "With  happy  heart  in  order  to 
behold  these  houris."  When,  however,  the  king  saw 
that  they  really  could  hit  the  ball  he  joined  in  the 
game.  Perhaps  also  as  the  ladies  wore  black  veils  he 
wished  to  have  a  closer  view.  As  there  were  seventy 
of  them  I  suggest  that  this  was  an  exercise  of  skill 
with  the  ball  rather  than  a  regular  game.  It  repre- 
sented in  fact  the  older  form  of  polo  that  survived 
side  by  side  with  the  more  scientific  game  that  had 
developed  out  of  it.  But  I  have  another  suggestion 
to  make  :  polo  is  a  rough  game  for  women,  and  espe- 
cially for  those  who,  like  the  ladies  of  the  East,  have 
their  face  for  their  fortune.  What  I  think  is  that 
Shirin  and  her  ladies  were  playing  the  Byzantine 
form  of  the  game,  which  depended  upon  skill  and 
horsemanship  rather  than  force  and  strength. 


ANCIENT  POLO  15 

I  have  before  me  an  account  of  a  polo  match 
played  at  Byzantium  in  the  reign  of  Manuel 
Comnenus,  and  told  by  his  faithful  secretary 
Cinnamus.  Manuel  came  to  the  throne  of  Constan- 
tinople A.D.  1 143.  His  exploits  in  war  and  in  the 
arena,  the  jousts  in  which  he  overcame  the  flower  of 
the  Italian  chivalry,  and  his  many  conquests,  made 
him  a  popular  hero  in  Asia  as  well  as  Europe,  and 
thus  Nizami  was  doubdess  familiar  with  his  fame. 
The  Emperor  Manuel  had  a  fall  at  polo  which  in- 
capacitated him  for  active  service  for  a  time,  and  to 
this  we  owe  our  knowledge  of  Byzantine  polo. 
Cinnamus  tells  his  story  thus  :  "  In  the  winter  the 
emperor  devoted  himself  to  an  ancient  and  honour- 
able sport,  which  is  of  great  antiquity  and  reckoned 
suitable  from  days  of  old  for  royal  personages.  The 
manner  of  the  game  is  as  follows  : — The  young  men 
divide  into  two  parties  equal  in  number  and  betake 
themselves  to  a  ground  which  had  aforetime  been 
laid  out  carefully.  They  use  a  leathern  ball  about 
the  size  of  an  apple.  This  ball  being  placed  in  the 
middle  of  the  ground  " — (possibly  they  rode  for  it, 
as  was  the  old  Anglo-Indian  custom,  each  side  starting 
from  its  own  goal  line) — "  the  players  contend  for 
it  as  for  a  prize.  In  their  right  hands  they  hold  a 
stick  of  moderate  length  with  a  round  racquet  at  the 
end.  Across  the  racquet  strings  are  stretched  in 
a  close  network.  The  object  of  the  game  is  to 
drive  the  ball  over  a  goal  line  measured  beforehand. 
That  party  which  with  the  racquet  drives  the  ball 
oftenest  over  the  goal  line  wins.     This  game  is  rather 


1 6  POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

dangerous,  and  falls  are  frequent.  It  is  necessary  for 
a  player  to  bend  this  way  and  that,  and  to  turn  his 
pony  in  a  circle  or  indeed  in  any  direction  that  the 
flight  of  the  ball  may  render  necessary.'*  Then  the 
historian  goes  on  to  tell  how  the  emperor  trying  to 
turn  his  pony  too  sharply — how  often  have  we 
not  seen  players  throw  their  ponies  in  this  way — 
the  animal  came  down  and  rolled  over  him. 
Although  the  emperor  remounted  and  tried  to  go 
on,  he  was  found  to  be  suffering  from  an  injured 
thigh  and  a  slight  concussion. 

Now  here  we  have  an  account  of  polo  from  a 
trustworthy  historian.  I  suggest,  however,  that  it 
was  this  form  of  polo,  less  rough  than  the  Persian 
form,  that  Nizami  imagined  Shirin  and  her  ladies 
to  have  played,  and  that  Shirin  brought  this  form  of 
the  game  with  her  from  Constantinople.  From  the 
story  of  Shirin  I  gather  that  polo  for  women  was  a 
novelty  at  the  court  of  Chosroes  II.  Later  Gurdiya 
and  Shirin  seem  to  have  played  a  polo  match  for  the 
king's  affections,  and  the  former  to  have  been  so  far 
successful  that  the  king  married  her  even  in  spite 
of  Shirin' s  warning  that  Gurdiya,  of  whose  prowess 
in  the  game  she  was  possibly  jealous,  was  a  "  she 
devil." 

But  a  point  of  interest  arises  now  that  polo  is 
coming  into  the  clear  light  of  history.  How  old  is  the 
game  ?  It  is  evident  that  the  poets  believed  polo 
to  be  most  ancient.  But  Firdousi  and  Nizami  could 
only  have  written  of  the  game  as  they  knew  it,  and 
thus  the  accounts  above  really  belong  to  a  period  not 


POLO    IN   JAPAN. 
JAPANESE    AND    BYZANTINE,    FORM    OF    STICK,    LEATHERN    BALL. 


ANCIENT  POLO  17 

earlier  than  the  tenth  century  of  our  era.  Yet  no 
doubt  the  game  was  much  older.  I  regard  the 
accounts  in  the  Shdh-ndma  as  representing  the  oldest 
orderly  form  of  polo.  Firdousi  came  of  one  of 
those  old  Persian  gentle  families  who  were  particularly 
careful  in  the  preservation  of  their  traditions.  Like 
our  own  Walter  Scott,  Firdousi' s  mind,  long  before 
he  wrote  his  great  poem,  was  stored  with  the  legends, 
ballads,  songs,  and  poems  of  old  Persia.  Tradition 
in  the  East  is  permanent  and  persistent,  and  in  Persia 
above  all,  so  that  it  is  probably  no  exaggeration  when 
we  assert  the  game  to  have  an  antiquity  of  two 
thousand  years.  Of  course,  at  what  period  it 
developed  from  being  an  exercise  of  horsemanship  to 
a  scientific  game  with  sides  and  rules,  no  one  can  say. 
All  that  we  know  is  that  we  find  polo  in  the  tenth 
century  a  highly  organised  game,  with  a  code  of 
rules  common  to  several  countries. 

When  once  we  reach  historic  times  the  rules  and 
histories  of  the  game  of  polo  are  more  easily  ascer- 
tained. In  another  old  Persian  poem  there  are  traces 
of  an  oflFside  rule,  the  players  were  four  a-side, 
and  there  was  a  "back"  with  well-defined  duties, 
and  I  think  from  this  we  may  infer  that  the  other 
places  in  the  game  were  not  dissimilar  to  ours,  and 
that  there  was  combination  as  well  as  individual  play. 
Selfish  play  was,  it  is  evident,  well  known  and  con- 
demned, as  the  ironic  advice  in  the  following  passage 
may  show  : — 

"  When  the  ball  comes  to  you  hit  it  back  into  the 
game  and  pretend  to  ride  hard  after  it,  but  do  not  go 

c 


1 8  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

into  the  scrimmage.  Keep  at  a  safe  distance  and  take 
care  of  yourself." 

In  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  the  game 
had  spread  from  Persia  to  Central  Asia  and  Thibet, 
and  was  popular  in  Central  India. 

The  Emperor  Akbar  valued  the  game  because  it 
both  made  horsemen  of  the  riders  and  taught  their 
chargers  to  be  handy.  Thus  it  is  also  probable  that 
from  14  to  15  hands  was  polo  height  in  India  in  the 
sixteenth  century.  They  played  five  a-side,  as  we 
used  to  do  in  India  and  England  when  the  game  was 
first  introduced  among  Englishmen.  The  two  forms 
of  the  game,  the  dribbling  and  the  hard-hitting,  were 
both  recognised.  The  mallet  was  hammer-headed, 
and  the  ground  was  in  Persia  certainly,  as  in  India 
probably,  about  the  same  size  as  ours.  Sir  Anthony 
Shirley  says  the  polo  ground  of  Ispahan  occupied  a 
space  of  ten  acres,  and  was  most  carefully  levelled. 
In  some  of  the  old  pictures  of  Eastern  polo  the 
kings  and  warriors  are  represented  playing  on  a  too 
flowery  mead,  which  caused  a  friend  of  mine  to 
observe  that  with  the  grass  so  long  the  game  must 
have  been  very  sticky.  I  think,  however,  the 
flowers  may  be  considered  to  be  an  artistic  licence 
and  intended  by  the  courtly  painters  as  a  com- 
pliment to  the  kings  and  great  men,  under  whose 
horses'  feet  flowers  might  naturally  be  expected  to 
spring  up. 

By  this  time  the  strokes  familiar  to  us  now — for- 
ward and  back-handed,  as  well  as  the  cut  under  the 
pony's  tail,  and  the  near-side  stroke  under  its  belly 


ANCIENT  POLO  19 

by  which  I  have  seen  Hira  Singh  make  many  a  goal 
— were  all  well  known.  Political  troubles  drove  the 
game  out  of  Persia  and  India.  It  lingered  only  on 
the  borders  of  Thibet  in  the  rough-and-ready  form 
described  by  Colonel  Algernon  Durand,  and  in 
Manipur.  From  Manipur  it  was  introduced  among 
the  indigo  planters.  Then  polo  travelled  to  Calcutta, 
and  at  last,  one  summer  afternoon  at  ShornclijfFe, 
the  first  game  was  played  in  England  by  the  loth 
Hussars.  Since  then  its  growth  has  been  rapid,  and 
it  has  travelled  back  from  England  to  Persia.  Major 
P.  M.  Sykes  thus  tells  of  the  reintroduction  of  polo 
into  its  native  land.  "In  1897  I  brought  sticks  and 
balls  to  the  capital,  but  was  assured  that  no  one  would 
play.  However,  aided  by  Mr.  Horace  Rumbold,  who, 
by  a  coincidence,  had  played  at  Cairo  with  '  The 
Bays'  (Major  Sykes's  own  regiment),  a  trial  game  was 
organised,  and  shordy  after  the  Legation  was  full  of 
both  players  and  ponies.  I  have  since  organised  the 
game  at  Shiraz  and  Kirman,  while  players  who 
learned  at  Teheran  have  established  clubs  at  Vienna 
and  Constantinople."  ^ 

Polo  has  also  a  great  antiquity  in  Japan.  Mr. 
K.  Takahashi,  of  the  Japanese  Legation,  informs  me 
that  he  considers  the  game  is  at  least  a  thousand  years 
old  in  that  country.  It  was  very  popular  in  the  feudal 
period,  not  only  among  the  Samurais,  but  also 
among  the  people.  It  is  still,  under  the  name  of 
Da-kiu,  or  "  ball  match,"  a  favourite  game  in  Japan. 

^   Ten  Thousand  Miles  across  Persia,  by  Major  P.  M.  Sykes   (Indian  Army, 
late  Queen's  Bays). 


20  POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

To  sum  up  this  chapter  we  may  note  that  we  have 
no  historic  references  to  early  polo  in  any  author 
previous  to  the  tenth  century. 

While  such  poetic  writers  as  Firdousi  (941-1020 
A.D.)  represent  to  us  traditions  of  ages  long  before 
their  time,  and  are  evidence  of  the  existence  of  a  stick- 
and-ball  game  played  on  horseback  in  prehistoric  times, 
yet  the  details  of  the  games  as  described  in  the  poems 
are  probably  those  of  their  own  day.  The  poet  in 
describing  the  match  in  which  Siawusch  played,  prob- 
ably presented  for  us  a  polo  match  as  he  had  seen  it, 
and  while  we  may  readily  believe  in  a  much  earlier 
popularity  of  polo  in  some  form  or  other,  yet  we  can 
only  recover  the  rules  of  the  game  and  the  methods 
of  play  from  the  tenth  century  onwards. 

My  own  view  is  that  the  earliest  polo  was  an 
exercise  of  horsemanship,  and  continued  in  this  form 
as  a  popular  sport  for  a  long  period.  The  highly 
organised  game  described  by  Firdousi  and  other 
writers  was  chiefly  played  at  the  courts  of  kings.  At 
all  events  we  can,  starting  from  Firdousi,  trace  the 
development  of  polo  onwards. 

I.  The  game  was  started — (i)  by  bowling  in  the 
ball ;  (2)  by  the  captain  of  one  side  galloping  from  the 
back  line  carrying  the  ball  to  the  centre,  throwing  it 
up,  and  hitting  it  flying  ;  (3)  by  placing  the  ball  on 
the  ground  in  the  centre,  each  side  then  galloping  for 
it  from  their  back  line.  (This  was  the  way  we  started 
a  game  in  India  in  1879.)  The  sides  were  usually 
seven,  five,  or  four  in  number,  divided  into  a  goal- 
keeper and  forwards.     If  there  was   no  off-side  the 


ANCIENT  POLO  21 

goalkeeper  must  have  kept  well  back,  as  he  did  in 
India  twenty  years  ago,  and  does  still  in  America. 

But  I  think  that  offside,  if  not  made  the  subject  of 
a  rule,  was  in  some  cases  restrained  by  the  public 
opinion  of  polo-players.  Combination  and  team-play 
was  recognised,  and  a  chief  trained  his  followers  and 
captained  a  team  exactly  as  the  princes  of  Patiala, 
Dholepur,  and  Jodhpur  do  to-day.  Two  kinds  of 
horses  were  used,  a  smaller  pony  and  the  ordinary 
Arab  charger.  The  strokes  were  the  same  as  those 
in  use  to-day. 

II.  In  the  twelfth  century  the  Byzantine  form  of 
the  game,  played  with  a  racquet  and  leathern  ball, 
seems  to  have  been  fashionable,  and  to  have  been 
played  by  women  as  well  as  men.  It  was  the 
favourite  sport  of  the  Comneni,  one  of  the  ablest  of 
the  Byzantine  dynasties. 

III.  In  the  sixteenth  century  the  Emperor  Akbar 
not  only  played  the  game,  but  regarded  it  as  a 
serious  exercise  and  a  test  of  temper  and  courage  for 
his  younger  courtiers.  By  this  time  there  were  two 
recognised  styles  of  play — possibly  they  were  two 
forms  of  the  game — dribbling  and  hard-hitting  ;  and 
sometimes  one,  sometimes  the  other  was  adopted  by 
consent  of  the  players  beforehand. 

In  the  seventeenth  century,  when  Sir  Anthony 
Shirley  saw  the  game  at  the  court  of  Shah  Abbas,  the 
grounds  were  about  300  by  170  yards  and  carefully 
levelled  and  kept  in  order,  and  the  style  of  play  was 
like  that  of  the  rough  football  of  the  Stuart  period 
in  England. 


22  POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

V.  Chardin  later  in  the  seventeenth  century  saw 
what  was  evidently  from  his  account  a  highly  organised 
game,  with  rules  against  standing  over  the  ball,  or 
checking  the  pony.  Speed  had  perhaps  by  this  time 
become  of  more  account  than  skill. 

VI .  There  have  been  six  kinds  of  sticks  used  : 
{a)  the  stick  with  a  spoon-shaped  head,  curved  like 
a  hockey  stick  ;  (b)  the  hockey-stick  shape  ;  {c) 
the  long  hammer-headed  stick  used  in  the  dribbling 
game  ;  (d)  the  shorter  hammer -headed  stick  of 
which  ours  is  the  direct  descendant  ;  {e)  the  racquet  ; 
(/)  the  stick  we  use  to-day,  about  50  to  53  inches 
in  length,  with  a  cigar-shaped  or  square  head. 

VII.  There  have  been  three  kinds  of  ball  :  (a) 
the  willow  root ;  (b)  the  bamboo  root  ;  and  {c)  the 
leathern  ball. 

VIII.  Goal-posts  have  been  of  stone,  of  wood, 
and  are  to-day  of  paper,  but  have  always  been 
24  feet  apart. 

IX.  The  grounds  have  generally  been  about  the 
same  size.  The  breadth  has  varied  little,  being 
about  200  yards  or  narrower,  but  the  length  has 
been  sometimes,  though  rarely,  double  what  it  is  now. 

X.  As  to  rules,  we  have  seen  that  there  was  a 
common  or  international  code,  so  that  Persians 
and  Turks  played  with  much  the  same  rules, 
written  or  unwritten,  and  could  understand  each 
other's  play  though  they  did  not  understand  each 
other's  language.  But  just  as  at  Hurlingham,  in  the 
early  days  of  polo,  the  game  was  governed  more  by 
the  good  feeling  of  players  and  a  certain  etiquette 


ANCIENT  POLO 


23 


than  by  any  code  of  rules,  so  I  imagine  it  to  have 
been  among  the  Persians.  Etiquette  in  the  East 
would,  it  must  be  remembered,  be  a  more  controlling 
power  than  with  ourselves. 

It  is  probable  that  polo,  after  political  troubles  had 
driven  it  out  of  Persia  and  India  and  confined  it 
to  barbarous  hill  tribes,  lost  many  of  its  rules  and  its 
civilised  aspect.  Thus  in  restoring  it  to  the  rank  of 
a  well-ordered  and  scientific  game,  we  have  merely 
brought  polo  back  to  what  it  was  in  its  golden  days 
in  Persia. 


CHAPTER   11 

THE    HURLINGHAM    CLUB    AND    ITS    INFLUENCE 
ON    POLO 

M 

The  Hurlingham  Club  is  known  by  name  wherever 
polo  is  played.  The  rules  drawn  up  by  the  Polo 
Committee  are  observed  everywhere,  except  in  India 
and  America.  Even  the  rules  which  govern  the 
game  in  those  countries  are  rather  variations  of  the 
Hurlingham  rules  than  distinct  codes,  and  the 
changes  made  at  Fulham  are  carefully  considered  at 
Lucknow  and  New  York  by  the  Indian  and  American 
polo  associations. 

The  Hurlingham  Club  was  founded  by  Mr. 
Frank  Heathcote  in  1869,  as  a  meeting-place  for 
those  pigeon-shooters  who  had  been  obliged  to  give 
up  their  old  resorts  owing  to  the  invasion  of  bricks 
and  mortar.     Two  years  before  the  establishment  of 

24 


s^« 


1 


^ 


HURLINGHAM'S  INFLUENCE  ON  POLO  25 

Hurlingham  the  Old  Red  House  at  Battersea,  and 
Hornsey-Wood  House,  which  had  been  in  turn  the 
headquarters  of  pigeon-shooting,  were  given  over  to 
the  builders.  Mr.  Frank  Heathcote,  who  was  at 
that  time  the  organiser  of  most  of  the  shooting 
competitions,  chanced  to  hear  that  Mr.  R.  C.  Naylor 
was  willing  to  let  Hurlingham  Park.  A  lease  was 
granted  in  1868,  and  the  club  was  founded  which 
has  become  the  pattern  and,  as  it  were,  the  parent 
of  many  similar  associations.  As  a  pigeon-shooting 
resort  the  Hurlingham  Club  began,  and  so  remained 
until  the  management  was  entrusted  to  Captain  the 
Hon.  J.  D.  Monson,  afterwards  eighth  Lord  Monson. 

Captain  Monson  resolved  to  develop  the  social 
side  of  the  Club.  A  new  attraction  was  wanted,  and 
polo  was  thought  of.  Captain  Monson  seems  to 
have  seen  the  possibilities  of  the  game,  and  to  his 
foresight  much  of  its  present  success  is  due.  In  the 
earlier  years  of  Captain  Monson's  managership  the 
freehold  of  Hurlingham  Park  was  bought,  and  within 
a  very  few  years  the  property  had  doubled  in  value. 
In  1879  the  Club  purchased  Mulgrave  House  with 
twenty  acres  of  land.  On  this  property,  formerly 
in  the  occupation  of  the  last  Lord  Ranelagh,  is  the 
lake  that  is  so  picturesque  a  feature  in  the  grounds. 
With  Captain  Monson  was  associated  Captain,  now 
Sir  Walter,  Smythe  of  Acton  Burnell,  and  Mr. 
Hurrell,  who  is  still  the  secretary  of  the  Club. 

Hurlingham  is  picturesquely  situated  on  the 
banks  of  the  Thames  at  Fulham.  The  house,  though 
of  no  very  great  antiquity,  has  an  air  of  old-world 


26  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

comfort  and  solidity,  not  unbefitting  the  bankers  and 
merchants  who  inhabited  it  in  its  earlier  days.  The 
gardens  are  delightful,  and  there  is  no  pleasanter 
place  nor  a  gayer  or  more  picturesque  scene  than  the 
lawn  in  front  of  Hurlingham  House  on  a  fine 
Saturday  afternoon  in  May  or  June.  One  of  the 
glories  of  Hurlingham  is  in  its  trees,  and  particularly 
the  magnificent  clumps  of  chestnuts  that  have  given 
the  name  of  the  "  chestnuts  goal "  to  a  spot  on  the 
polo  ground  where  many  a  keen  struggle  has  taken 
place.  But  those  who  look  over  the  green  expanse 
of  the  polo  ground  can  have  little  idea  of  the  labour 
and  difliculty  that  thirty  years  ago  (1873)  were 
undergone  to  make  it.  The  famous  match  ground 
occupies  the  site  of  the  orchard  of  the  old  house. 
Trees  had  to  be  cut  down  and  uprooted.  Nothing 
but  great  care  and  skill  could  have  enabled  Mr. 
Sutherland,  the  head  gardener,  under  the  guidance 
of  Captain  Walter  Smythe,  to  make  the  turf  ground 
which  has  since  been  the  scene  of  so  many  famous 
matches.  Up  to  1879  i^  was  the  only  polo  ground  in 
London,  and  it  long  remained  without  a  rival.  It 
was  at  Hurlingham  that  "  guards  "  were  first  intro- 
duced along  the  sides  of  the  ground,  doubtless  at 
first  simply  with  the  view  of  remedying  the  defects 
in  the  game  caused  by  the  limited  size  and  irregular 
shape  of  the  ground. 

The  Hurlingham  polo  field  has  been  much 
enlarged  since  its  early  days,  but  the  boards  still 
remain.  Indeed,  to  have  a  boarded  ground  is 
now  all    but  a   necessity  to  any  first-class   club   in 


HURLINGHAM'S  INFLUENCE  ON  POLO  27 

England.  These  boards,  which  run  down  the  sides 
of  the  parallelogram  that  a  polo  ground  should 
be,  have  altered  and  probably  greatly  improved 
the  game.  But  at  all  events  it  will  be  granted 
that  the  boards,  which  were  unwillingly  adopted 
at  first,  have  influenced  the  development  of  polo  in 
England  and  America  in  no  slight  degree.  The 
success  of  the  game  when  Hurlingham  provided 
it  with  a  place  and  a  set  of  rules,  was  immediate. 
The  Club  prospered  greatly  on  its  social  side. 
The  Prince  of  Wales  (now  H.M.  Edward  VIL)  gave 
it  his  countenance  and  support,  and,  in  spite  of  an 
exclusive  ballot,  by  1882  the  Hurlingham  Club  had 
a  membership  of  fifteen  hundred.  Elections  were 
held  every  Saturday,  and  a  long  list  of  candidates  was 
waiting  for  admission. 

The  vouchers  by  which  the  friends  of  members 
were  admitted  were  eagerly  sought  for,  and  to  drive 
down  to  polo  at  Hurlingham  became  a  regular  part 
of  the  programme  of  those  who  would  take  part  in  a 
London  season.  Of  course,  only  a  fraction  of  the 
members  were  polo  players,  for  Hurlingham  is  and 
has  always  been,  almost  from  its  beginning,  one  of 
the  most-sought-after  of  social  clubs.  But  Captain 
Monson  and  Captain  Smythe  had  made  no  mistake 
when  they  foresaw  and  provided  for  the  attractive- 
ness of  polo  as  a  spectacle.  They  designed  the 
pavilion,  which  was  the  finest  of  its  kind  when  it  was 
put  up.  This  building,  though  it  has  often  been 
enlarged,  is  acknowledged  to  be  far  too  small  for  the 
present  needs  of  the   Club.     It  is   said   that   some 


2  8  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

members  of  the  Club  and  even  of  the  Committee 
looked  upon  this  stand  as  an  extravagance.  The 
fact  is,  polo  was  regarded  in  those  early  days  as  a 
passing  fashion,  and  too  costly  ever  to  become 
popular.  It  is  called  by  a  journalist  in  the  'seventies 
"  a  patrician  sport."  We  know  now  that  it  is  nothing 
of  the  kind,  but  a  game  which  has  found  considerable 
and  widespread  popularity  among  those  of  many 
classes  who  are  interested  in  sports.  For  a  long 
time,  even  within  the  polo  memory  of  the  author,  the 
committees  of  clubs  not  wholly  given  to  polo  had 
hardly  grasped  its  importance  and  attractiveness. 
Nor  are  they  to  be  blamed  for  this.  No  one,  not 
even  the  most  enthusiastic  admirer  of  the  game,  could 
have  foreseen  its  present  position.  To  the  old 
Hurlingham  Committee  the  polo  members  of  the 
Club  were  a  minority,  always  demanding  a  larger 
share  of  labour  and  expenditure  than  they  were 
entitled  to.  At  Hurlingham  the  pigeon -shooters 
who  had  been  in  possession  there  for  some  years 
regarded  the  polo  players  as  a  secondary  and  intrusive 
element  in  the  club.  The  polo  players  regarded 
pigeon-shooting  as  an  antiquated  and  not  too  defen- 
sible form  of  recreation,  and  cast  envious  eyes  on 
the  enclosure  which  would  have  been  a  most  acceptable 
addition  to  the  area  of  the  polo  ground. 

There  can,  however,  be  no  doubt  that  the  game 
of  polo  owes  its  existence  in  England  to  the 
Hurlingham  polo  ground.  This  is  an  irregular 
oval  with  a  surface  of  smooth  turf,  with  a  slight 
undulation    towards  the  centre.      The   contour    of 


HURLINGHAM'S  INFLUENCE  ON  POLO  29 

the  surface  and  its  irregular  shape,  which  Major 
Egerton  Green  and  Mr.  St.  Quintin  have  greatly 
modified  and  improved,  made  the  Hurlingham 
ground  somewhat  tricky  in  appearance,  but  I  am 
bound  to  say,  after  watching  many  matches  with  a 
critical  eye,  I  could  never  discover  that  the  apparent 
defects  in  any  way  spoilt  the  interest  of  the  game. 
Indeed,  when  we  have  eight  rigidly  drilled  players 
riding  eight  perfectly  schooled  ponies  and  playing  on 
an  accurate  parallelogram  laid  with  the  smoothest 
turf,  as  level  as  a  golf  green  and  as  true  as  a  billiard 
table,  we  may  find  that  the  game  has  lost  some  of 
its  interest,  and  turn  back  again  for  the  old  thrill 
and  excitement  to  Hurlingham  and  its  irregularly 
shaped  ground.  But  at  all  events  when  Captain 
Smythe  opened  the  ground  for  play  he  at  once 
secured  the  popularity  of  the  game. 

But  we  owe  more  than  this  to  the  Committee  of 
Hurlingham.  Not  only  did  they  start  the  game,  but 
they  gave  it  a  code  of  rules.  Although,  as  is  noted 
elsewhere,  the  game  was  not  played  first  at  Hurling- 
ham, yet  before  1874  it  only  consisted  in  knocking 
about  a  ball.  It  looked  like  and  was  sometimes 
called  hockey  on  horseback.  Everything  about  the 
game  was  uncertain  :  the  size  of  the  ponies,  the  com- 
position of  the  ball,  the  shape  of  the  mallets.  But 
the  Hurlingham  Committee  took  this  in  hand  and 
produced  a  simple  and  effective  code  of  rules,  and  by 
that  means  gave  to  the  game  of  polo  regularity  and 
a  prospect  of  permanence.  No  game  can  last  if  the 
aspiration  of  the  chairman  of  a  City  dinner  for  a  more 


30  POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

liberal  State  Church  is  realised,  and  every  man  "  does 
that  which  is  right  in  his  own  eyes." 

These  rules  I  present  here  so  that  my  readers  can 
judge  for  themselves  how  this  game  has  developed. 

The  Hurlingham  Club  Rules  of  Polo 

1.  The  height  of  the  ponies  must  not  exceed  14  hands, 
and  no  ponies  showing  vice  are^to  be  allowed  in  the  game. 

2.  The  goals  to  be  not  less  than  250  yards  apart,  and 
each  goal  to  be  8  yards  wide. 

3.  No  spurs  to  be  allowed  with  rowels,  except  on  special 
occasions,  when  sanctioned  by  the  Committee. 

4.  Each  side  shall  nominate  an  umpire,  unless  it  be 
mutally  agreed  to  play  with  one  instead  of  two  ;  but  his  or 
their  decisions  shall  be  final. 

5.  None  but  proper  sticks  and  balls  approved  by  the 
Committee  allowed.  The  size  of  the  balls  is  decided  to  be 
three  inches  in  diameter. 

6.  Should  a  player  break  his  stick,  or  have  it  broken,  he 
must  ride  to  the  appointed  place  where  the  sticks  are  kept, 
and  take  one. 

7.  In  the  event  of  a  stick  being  dropped,  the  player  must 
dismount  to  pick  it  up  ;  but  he  cannot  strike  the  ball  when 
dismounted. 

8.  A  player  may  interpose  his  pony  before  his  antagonist, 
so  as  to  prevent  the  latter  reaching  the  ball,  whether  in  full 
career  or  otherwise ;  but  may  not  cross  another  player  in 
possession  of  the  ball,  unless  at  such  a  distance  as  to  avoid 
all  possibility  of  a  collision. 

9.  It  is  allowed  to  hook  an  adversary's  stick,  but  neither 
under  or  over  an  adversary's  pony. 

10.  If  a  player  is  ^^  before  his  side'''' — i.e.  he  is  in  front 
of  the  player  of  his  own  side  who  hit  the  ball,  but  has  not 
two  of  the  opposite  side  between  him  and  the  hostile  goal, 


HURLINGHAM'S  INFLUENCE  ON  POLO   31 

and  has  not  come  through  the  bully — he  is  "offside"  or 
sneaking,  and  out  of  the  game,  and  does  not  become  "  on 
his  side  "  till  the  ball  be  hit  or  hit  at  by  the  opposite  side,  or 
until  the  player  on  his  own  side,  who  makes  the  hit,  passes 
him.  The  player,  until  he  is  on  his  side^  has  no  business  to 
impede  in  any  manner  one  of  the  opposing  side. 

11.  If  the  ball  is  hit  above  the  top  of  the  goal  posts,  but 
in  the  opinion  of  the  umpire  through,  it  shall  be  considered 
a  goal. 

12.  When  the  ball  is  hit  beyond  the  goal,  and  not 
through,  the  side  defending  the  goal  is  entitled  to  a  hit-ofF, 
which  must  be  from  the  line. 

13.  When  the  ball  is  hit  out  of  bounds,  it  must  be 
thrown  into  the  playground  by  an  impartial  person. 

14.  Each  side  to  take  up  its  position  behind  the  goal 
posts,  and  on  the  flag  being  dropped  the  game  commences. 

15.  The  dress  of  the  Hurlingham  Club  shall  be  Hght  blue 
jerseys  or  shirts,  blue  forage  caps,  with  silver  band,  light  blue 
belts,  butcher  boots,  and  breeches.  The  second  colours  are 
white  shirt  or  jersey.  A  pattern  of  the  same  can  be  seen  on 
application  to  the  secretary. 

16.  Each  pony  is  to  be  passed  under  the  standard  by  the 
Secretary  or  one  of  the  Committee.  A  registered  book  to 
be  kept  by  the  Secretary,  in  which  the  height  of  all  ponies 
belonging  to  members  is  to  be  entered. 

17.  No  person  allowed  within  the  arena  (players  and 
umpires  excepted)  under  any  circumstances  whatever. 

Bye-Laws 

1.  From  and  after  this  date,  the  duration  of  games  in  all 
matches  shall  be  for  one  hour  and  ten  minutes  \  and  there 
shall  be  an  interval  of  five  minutes  between  each  twenty 
minutes  of  play. 

2.  The  Polo  ground  shall  be  open  for  play,  for  not  less 
than  six  players,  at  three  o'clock  each  day,  Fridays  excepted. 


32  POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

when  the  ground  is  closed.     All  play  shall  cease  and   the 
ground  be  cleared  by  7.15. 

3.  Every  pony  that  plays  on  the  ground  must  be  passed 
under  the  standard  by  the  Secretary  or  one  of  the  Polo 
Committee,  and  the  same  be  entered  in  a  book  kept  for  the 
purpose.  A  pony  passed  under  the  standard  as  to  regulation 
height,  after  he  is  aged,  is  permanently  passed. 

4.  Not  more  than  five  players  are  allowed  to  play  on  each 
side  in  any  game,  the  members  who  arrive  first  at  the 
Pavilion  being  allowed  precedence. 

5.  Each  set  of  players  will  be  allowed  the  use  of  the 
ground  for  twenty-five  minutes. 

6.  Colours  must  be  worn  in  all  games  to  distinguish 
sides.  A  set  of  broad  red  sashes  will  be  kept  in  the  office 
by  the  Secretary. 

7.  The  competition  for  the  Open  Cup  will  be  for  five 
a-side  j  for  the  Military  Cup,  four  a-side. 

Rule  33. — The  Shooting  Season  shall  commence  on  the 
5th  of  April,  and  end  on  the  Monday  in  Goodwood  race  week, 
in  each  year.  The  Polo  Season  shall  commence  on  the  ist 
of  May,  and  end  on  a  day  fixed  by  the  Committee,  after  a 
fortnight's  notice  thereof.  The  Committee  shall  have  the 
power  of  opening  the  Club  for  any  winter  amusement  that 
may  hereafter  be  considered  advisable,  and  to  close  the  Polo 
ground  on  any  day  or  days  when,  in  their  opinion,  the  state 
of  the  ground  will  not  admit  of  the  game  being  played  with- 
out permanent  injury  to  the  turf.  Under  such  circum- 
stances, all  possible  notice  shall  be  given  by  the  Secretary. 

The  above  rules  were  those  under  which  the  game 
grew  and  prospered.  To  them  we  owe  the  fact  that 
scientific  polo  exists,  and  that  having  been  once  started 
it  was  placed  on  a  firm  and  satisfactory  basis. 


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HURLINGHAM'S  INFLUENCE  ON  POLO  3^ 

The  polo  ground  was  ready,  the  game  was  being 
organised,  but  all  would  have  been  of  no  avail  unless 
there  had  been  players  to  support  it. 

I  can  well  remember  the  game  as  I  saw  it  in 
England,  and  played  it  in  India  in  its  earlier  days. 
The  English  game  was  in  advance  of  the  Indian 
one  in  science  and  tactics  at  first,  and  at  Hur- 
lingham  they  had  given  up  the  dribbling  game 
some  years  before  we  did  so  in  India,  or,  at  any  rate, 
in  that  part  of  India,  the  Bombay  Presidency,  with 
which  I  was  then  acquainted.  Small  ponies,  a  heavy 
short  stick,  no  places  kept  except  that  of  goalkeeper 
— it  must  be  remembered  that  in  early  days  there  were 
five  players  on  each  side — led  to  a  slow  dribbling 
game.  Backhanders  were  quite  a  matter  of  choice, 
and  hustling,  apart  from  riding  off  as  we  understand 
it,  was  freely  permitted.  Umpires  were  not  known 
except  in  first-class  matches.  There  was  a  good  deal 
of  tumbling  about,  and  scrimmages  were  frequent. 
The  game  was  started  by  placing  the  ball  in  the  centre 
of  the  ground.  Then  the  opposing  sides  rode  in  for 
it  from  their  respective  goal  lines,  which  was  an 
exciting  but  dangerous  feature.  Later  the  players 
crossed  sticks  over  the  ball  and  then  there  was  a 
good  deal  of  clawing  and  snatching  before  the  game 
fairly  opened,  in  very  many  cases  with  scrimmages. 

It  may  seem  strange  to  players  accustomed  to  our 
modern  methods  of  play,  but  we  most  of  us  formed 
our  attachment  to  the  game  as  it  was  played  then. 
Polo  was  inferior  to  the  scientific  game  of  to-day,  but 
it  was  very  good  fun  all  the  same.     However,  we 

D 


34  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

could  not  have  played  the  game  of  to-day,  for  the 
ponies  were  not  forthcoming.  The  early  idea  was 
that  any  scrambling  pony  would  do  for  a  convey- 
ance. The  ponies  themselves  corrected  that  idea, 
for  the  possession  of  well-trained,  well-broken  ponies 
was  soon  found  to  be  an  immense  advantage.  Then 
some  players  began  to  rise  to  prominence.  The 
Messrs.  Murrietta,  who  were  well  known  at  Market 
Harborough  as  hard  riders  across  High  Leicestershire, 
were  perhaps  the  foremost  players  at  Hurlingham  of 
that  period.  Then  there  were  the  late  Lord  Queens- 
berry,  Mr.  R.  Herbert  of  Clytha,  Lords  Cole  and 
Castlereagh,  all  afterwards  to  be  masters  of  hounds. 
But  three  of  the  men  who  were  destined  later 
to  develop  polo  were  gaining  knowledge  of  the 
theory  of  the  game,  and  skill  in  its  practice  at  the 
International  Gun  and  Polo  Club  at  Brighton.  There 
were  first-rate  matches  played  at  Preston  Park  in  the 
autumn  of  1874.  The  two  players  who  did  most 
for  the  game  at  this  time  were  Mr.  A.  E.  Peat 
and  Mr.  E.  Kenyon  Stow.  Both  grasped  the 
necessity  of  having  trained  ponies  that  could  gallop. 
They  sat  down  in  their  saddles  instead  of  leaning 
forward,  and  they  played  with  a  straight  arm,  using 
the  speed  of  the  pony  to  give  impetus  to  the  ball. 
Thus  when  these  players  took  the  ball  men  who 
clung  to  the  old  dribbling  style  never  saw  it  again, 
unless  they  caught  a  glimpse  of  it  flying  through  the 
posts. 

But  like  all  innovations  the  new  style  of  play  did 
not  become  general  all  at  once.     It  was  not  quite  yet 


HURLINGHAM'S  INFLUENCE  ON  POLO  35 

that  the  Peats  and  Mr.  Kenyon  Stow  were  to  make 
their  appearance  at  Hurlingham,  where,  in  the  mean- 
time, were  practising  Mr.  F.  Mildmay,  Mr  Cumber- 
land Bentley,  Mr.  H.  B.  Patton,  and  Mr.  A.  Greville. 
The  5th  and  i6th  Lancers  and  the  ist  Life  Guards 
had  also  formed  regimental  teams,  which  made  their 
appearance  at  Hurlingham  and  by  their  play  raised 
the  reputation  of  the  Club  and  increased  the  popu- 
larity of  polo.  If  we  look  over  the  old  code  of  rules 
we  shall  see  that  although  simple  compared  with 
the  existing  ones,  yet  that  they  contained  every- 
thing necessary  to  regulate  the  game  at  that  time. 
The  alterations  that  have  been  made  since  are  rather 
in  the  nature  of  explanations  and  definitions  than  of 
organic  change.  The  rapid  increase  in  the  pace  at 
which  polo  was  played  made  it  desirable  that  there 
should  be  some  precautionary  rules  in  order  to  render 
the  game  less  dangerous.  Many  of  the  modern  pro- 
visions for  fouls  and  penalties  are  simply  the  old 
unwritten  code  that  prevailed  when  the  game  was 
only  played  at  a  few  clubs,  and  for  the  most  part  by 
men  who  knew  one  another  more  or  less  intimately. 
It  was  needless  to  warn  men  of  errors  which  were 
understood  to  be  against  the  spirit  of  the  game. 
Cases  of  unfair  riding  off,  of  offside,  of  fouls,  of 
unnecessary  stick  crooking  were  rare,  if  not  unknown. 
I  can  scarcely  remember  hearing  the  umpire's  whistle 
in  the  earher  days,  and  I  recollect  having  it  pointed 
out  to  me  on  one  occasion  when  I  was  learning  the 
game  in  1879  that  an  adversary's  stick  should  not  be 
crooked  unless  he  was  in  the  act  of  hitting  the  ball. 


36  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

This  indeed  was  in  India,  but  the  same  thing  has 
been  told  me  by  early  players  in  England,  and  if 
from  this  first  code  we  miss  the  penalties  that  are 
now  laid  down,  it  was  because  the  offences  were 
restrained  by  an  unwritten  code  of  honour  among 
the  players.  Now  this  is  not  meant  to  imply  that 
unfair  play  is  at  all  common  at  polo  now,  but  simply 
that  the  number  of  those  playing  has  grown  so  large 
that  the  unwritten  code  of  a  club  to  which  many  of 
the  players  do  not  and  could  not  belong,  is  obviously 
insufficient  for  regulation  and  restraint. 

The  first  set  of  rules  of  1873  was  intended  for 
the  members  of  the  Hurlingham  Club.  Other 
clubs  were  at  liberty  to  adopt  them  or  to  modify 
them  as  they  pleased.  There  was  no  idea  in  the 
minds  of  the  first  Hurlingham  Polo  Committee 
of  exercising  any  authority  outside  the  limits  of 
their  own  enclosure.  The  la$t  edition  published 
this  year  (1905)  was  intended  to  apply  to  every 
polo  club  in  England,  and  at  least  to  be  a  standard 
for  the  colonies.  True,  the  earlier  clubs  looked  up 
to  Hurlingham  ;  it  was  the  oldest  and  the  largest. 
Indeed,  most  of  the  other  clubs  included  a  majority 
of  Hurlingham  members.  The  club  at  Brighton, 
the  Monmouthshire,  the  Edinburgh,  were  founded 
to  give  increased  opportunities  of  play  to  men  who 
for  two  or  three  months  played  in  London.  In 
the  same  way  Ireland  accepted  Hurlingham  rules. 
Their  greatest  player,  and  indeed  the  reconstructor  of 
the  game,  Mr.  John  Watson,  was  a  leading  member 
of  the   Hurlingham   Committee.     The  progress   of 


Si 
§5 


HURLINGHAM'S  INFLUENCE  ON  POLO  37 

the  game  was  very  rapid,  and  was  due  to  its  own 
intrinsic  attractiveness,  as  well  as  to  the  arrangement 
of  tournaments  by  Captain  Smythe.  The  open 
Champion  Cup  was  an  obvious  idea,  but  the  Inter- 
Regimental  Cup  was  a  happy  thought  which,  if  it  was 
suggested  by  the  popularity  of  polo  among  soldiers,  has 
also  reacted  on  the  game  in  the  Army.  The  County 
Cup  tournament,  the  matches  between  Oxford  and 
Cambridge,  Eton  and  Harrow,  Lords  and  Commons, 
and  later  the  Social  Clubs  Cup  and  the  Handicap 
tournaments,  have  all  done  much  to  increase  public 
interest  in  polo,  and  to  improve  play  throughout  the 
country. 

For  nearly  twenty  years  the  Hurlingham  Club 
remained  without  a  rival,  and  during  that  time  it  is 
not  too  much  to  say  that  scarcely  a  match  of  im- 
portance was  played  in  England  except  on  the  ground 
at  Hurlingham.  There  was  but  one  ground,  and 
two  or  three  matches  a  week  for  some  months  in  the 
year  sufficed.  If  you  wanted  to  see  the  very  best 
play  you  looked  on  at  the  members'  games.  The 
players  were  the  men  who  taught  us  by  precept  and 
example  what  a  fine  game  polo  was  when  played  by 
the  Messrs.  Peat,  Mr.  Kenyon  Stow,  Mr.  F.  Mildmay, 
Mr.  T.  Kennedy,  who  began  late  but  quickly  gained 
a  high  place  among  players.  Lord  Harrington,  Mr. 
John  Watson,  Captain  F.  Herbert,  Captain  Cecil 
Peters,  and  others.  It  seems  to  me  as  I  look  back 
that  there  never  was  quite  so  brilliant  a  forward  as 
Mr.  J.  E.  Peat,  so  loyal  a  man  to  play  for  his  side 
as  Lord  Harrington,  such  keen  riders  or  true  hitters 


38  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

as  Mr.  Kenyon  Stow  and  Mr.  Mildmay.  I  am  sure 
that  there  never  was  a  back  who  combined  tactics 
and  control  alike  of  the  ball  and  of  his  team  to  the 
same  degree  as  Mr.  John  Watson.  The  art  of 
making  the  most  of  the  team  of  which  he  was 
captain  has  never  since  been  achieved  in  an  equal 
degree.  In  exhortation,  rebuke,  or  encouragement 
he  was,  and  is  unrivalled,  although  in  later  years  the 
last  named  bears  a  much  greater  proportion  to  the 
whole  than  it  used  to  do.  He  taught  us  the  value 
of  the  backhander  and  how  to  use  it,  and  no  one 
ever  scorned  gallery  play  more  completely. 

These  men  had  wonderful  ponies,  and  most  of 
them  had  themselves  schooled  the  horses  to  the 
game.  In  those  days  not  even  a  millionaire  duke 
could  order  three  ready-made  polo  ponies  at  a  price 
that  left  very  little  change  out  of  ;^iooo.  Each  one 
of  the  men  who  played  had  bought  where  he  could 
and  taught  the  pony  the  game.  We  hear  much  and 
rightly  about  the  training  of  polo  ponies  and  their 
condition,  but  I  doubt  if  more  skill  and  patience  and 
sound  horsemanship  have  ever  been  exercised  on  any 
of  the  crack  ponies  of  our  day  than  were  lavished  on 
the  early  ponies,  "  Fitz  "  and  "Nimble,"  wonderful  old 
"  Piper,"  "  Sister  Sue,"  and  many  more.  But  the 
growth  of  polo  was  a  silent  one,  for  there  were  no 
daily  reports  from  the  clubs,  as  there  are  now.  A 
scanty  paragraph  in  the  Field  was  all  the  notice  the 
world  had  of  the  new  game.  Mr.  Moray  Brown  was 
to  come  later,  and  the  marvellous  influence  his  vivid 
pen  had  on  the  spread  of  the  game  has  never  yet 


HURLINGHAM'S  INFLUENCE  ON  POLO  39 

had    quite    justice    done    to    it    in    the    history   of 
polo. 

The  name  of  Hurlingham  and  its  polo  spread 
far  and  wide.  Letters  came  from  India,  from 
America,  from  New  Zealand,  and  many  other  places. 
"  Tell  us  about  polo  and  how  to  play  it.  We  have 
read  your  accounts,  and  it  must  be  a  splendid  game.'* 
A  New  Zealand  player  has  told  me  how  the  game 
won  its  way  among  those  hard-riding  colonists  in 
spite  of  the  prejudice  that  it  was  "only  a  game  for 
toffs."  Everywhere  the  game  drew  out  the  necessary 
ponies.  The  great  spread  of  polo  is  partly  due  to  the 
stimulus  provided  by  the  story  of  Hurlingham  and  its 
play,  the  simple  tale  of  its  members'  games  from  day 
to  day,  which  filled  about  a  third  of  Land  and  Water, 

The  game  could  not  have  failed  to  make  its  way 
in  any  case.  But  the  management  of  Hurlingham, 
the  skill  of  the  early  players,  and  the  rise  of  Moray 
Brown,  who  more  than  any  other  has  infused  the 
fire  of  his  own  enthusiasm  for  sport  into  his 
writings,  all  combined  to  make  the  growth  of  polo 
in  popular  knowledge  and  estimation  a  rapid  one. 
But  I  want  to  take  my  readers  back  to  the  days 
before  Moray  Brown,  and  to  show  how  good  the 
play  was  in  the  unrecorded  times,  when  people  still 
thought  of  Hurlingham  chiefly  as  a  place  where  they 
shot  pigeons,  and  lost  and  won  a  good  deal  of  money 
in  so  doing. 

The  fact  was  that  long  before  Moray  Brown 
wrote,  the  shooting  had  become  a  source  of  weak- 
ness rather  than  strength  to  the  Club,  and  pigeons 


40  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

have  long  ceased  to  be  shot  there  on  the  days  fixed 
for  great  polo  matches. 

There  can  be  no  better  way  of  tracing  the  growth 
of  polo  than  by  recalling  some  of  the  famous  games 
that  have  been  played  on  the  Hurlingham  ground. 
To  begin  with,  let  us  take  the  Champion  Cup  of 
1877  :  the  first  ever  played  for.  For  this  six 
teams  were  entered — the  Royal  Horse  Guards  ;  the 
Staffordshire  ;  the  United  Service  Club  ;  the  Inter- 
national Gun  and  Polo  Club,  Brighton  ;  the  Tyros  ; 
the  Monmouthshire.  This  was  a  strong  entry.  It 
was  before  the  days  when  one  team  had  established 
so  great  a  superiority  to  all  others  that  it  was  difficult 
to  find  clubs  willing  to  compete  for  the  cup.  The 
play  was  fast  throughout,  and  the  final  proved  to  be 
one  of  the  most  exciting  games  that  have  ever  been 
played  in  the  history  of  the  cup.  It  was  then  still 
usual  to  have  Hvc  men  a-side,  and  the  International 
Gun  and  Polo  Club  seemed  to  have  a  great  chance. 
Their  team  was  Mr.  Arthur,  Mr.  E.  Kenyon  Stow, 
Mr.  Howard,  Mr.  J.  E.  Peat,  and  Mr.  A.  E.  Peat. 
Their  opponents  were — Monmouthshire  :  Captain  F. 
Herbert,  Mr.  Mellor,  Mr.  R.  Herbert,  Mr.  Hugh 
Owen,  and  Mr.  Edward  Curre.  Unluckily  Mr. 
Kenyon  Stow  was  knocked  over  early  in  the  game 
and  had  his  leg  broken.  Thus  the  Brighton  Club  lost 
one  of  their  best  men.  They  played  on,  however,  to 
the  end,  four  against  five.  It  is  interesting  to  note 
that  the  Monmouthshire  Club  was  not  obliged  to 
withdraw  a  man,  and  it  also  shows  that  the  fifth  man 
was    an    advantage.     This,    but    for   the    fact    that 


HURLINGHAM'S  INFLUENCE  ON  POLO  41 

Monmouthshire  won,  we  should  in  the  light  of  our 
present  knowledge  have  supposed  not  to  be  the  case. 
Mr.  James  Peat  made  a  splendid  fight  for  his  side, 
and  one  of  his  runs  foreshadowed  his  future  fame. 
He  gained  possession  of  the  ball  and  racing  away 
was  never  stopped  until  he  had  scored  a  goal.  This 
was  on  the  Thursday,  and  on  the  Saturday  we  find 
the  final  tie  sandwiched  in  between  a  la  crosse  match 
and  a  rose  show.  The  Prince  and  Princess  of  Wales 
and  the  French,  Danish,  and  Chinese  Ambassadors 
came  down.  There  were  twenty-five  coaches  and  a 
big  gathering.  The  other  club  left  in  was  the 
Tyros  :  Sir  Bache  Cunard,  Mr.  A.  de  Murrietta,  The 
Hon.  C.  C.  Cavendish  (now  Major-General  Lord 
Chesham),  Mr.  C.  de  Murrietta,  and  Mr.  E.  H. 
Baldock.  The  players  rose  to  the  occasion  and  the 
match  was  closely  contested.  When  time  was  called 
neither  side  had  scored  a  goal  at  all.  There  was  a 
short  rest  and  then  the  two  teams  ranged  up  again  ; 
but  after  playing  for  two  additional  quarters  no  goal 
had  been  struck,  and  the  match  was  declared  a  draw. 
This  is  the  only  instance  of  a  draw  in  the  history  of 
the  Champion  Cup,  and  the  fact  that  no  goal  was 
made  also  stands  by  itself.  Of  the  men  who  played 
in  this  match  three  became  masters  of  hounds.  Lord 
Chesham  (the  Bicester),  Sir  Bache  Cunard  (the  Billes- 
don),  Mr.  Reginald  Herbert  (the  Monmouthshire). 
Lord  Chesham  served  with  great  distinction  in  South 
Africa,  where  also  Captain  F.  Herbert  did  good  service. 
Mr.  Hugh  Owen  is  starter  to  the  Jockey  Club. 

Probably    none    of    them    have    forgotten    that 


42  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

desperate  struggle  for  the  Champion  Cup,  which  still 
lives  in  the  memories  of  those  who  saw  it,  as  one  of 
the  most  exciting  matches  ever  seen.  Many  years 
passed.  The  International  Gun  and  Polo  Club  ceased 
to  exist,  and  the  Sussex  team  gradually  established 
an  ascendancy  which  was  undisputed.  When  the 
Messrs.  Peat  were  together  they  were  invincible. 
The  interest  in  the  Champion  Cup  died  down,  and 
the  Inter-Regimental  Tournament  became  the  chief 
event  of  the  polo  season.  These  matches,  however, 
belong  rather  to  Army  polo  than  to  Hurlingham, 
though  to  Captain  Smythe  is  due  the  credit  of  organ- 
ising them,  and  they  have  been  played  ever  since, 
with  the  exception  of  the  two  years  when  the  Boer  War 
intervened,  on  the  match  ground  at  Hurlingham. 

The  Sussex  team  held  the  championship  for 
seven  years.  The  position  of  the  brothers  Peat  was 
well  deserved.  They  trained  their  own  ponies  and 
practised  diligently.  Their  success  was  won  by  hard 
work,  and  Mr.  James  Peat  became  the  best  forward 
of  his  day.  Hurlingham  has  never  seen  a  better 
player,  and  the  picture  of  Mr.  "  Johnnie "  Peat 
racing  down  the  ground  on  "Firefly"  or  "  Dynamite" 
no  one  who  ever  saw  it  will  forget.  "Dynamite" 
was  a  great  raking  mare  of  the  blood  steeplechase- 
horse  type.  No  one  knows  how  she  was  bred,  but  she 
came,  like  many  of  our  best  ponies,  from  Ireland,  and 
had  probably  no  more  than  a  nominal  stain  in  her 
pedigree.  She  was  not  everyone's  polo  pony,  and 
after  about  three  minutes  or  so  of  fast  play  she  caught 
hold  of  her  bit  in  a  way  that  might  have  disconcerted 


HURLINGHAM'S  INFLUENCE  ON  POLO  43 

a  less  skilled  horseman  or  more  uncertain  striker  than 
her  master.  She  never  did  play  her  best  save  for  her 
master,  and  was  a  pony  quite  unsuited  for  a  sticky 
game.  But  then  no  game  was  slow  in  which  the 
famous  pair  took  part.  No  player  of  the  present  day 
recalls  Mr.  J.  E.  Peat,  unless  perhaps  it  is  Mr.  A. 
Rawlinson  when  he  is  well  on  the  ball. 

But  to  return  to  the  memorable  match  in  1894. 
The  Champion  Cup  had  fallen  to  a  low  ebb.  The 
Sussex  County  team  had  been  victorious  on  seven 
occasions  and  had  walked  over  twice  (How  do  men 
walk  over  for  a  polo  cup  ?),  and  there  had  been  no 
contest  at  all  in  1893.  In  1894  there  were  but  three 
entries,  and  the  4th  Hussars  had  no  real  chance.  It 
is  probable,  however,  that  they  contributed  to  the 
victory  of  the  Freebooters.  The  last-named  had  the 
luck  to  be  drawn  against  them,  and  no  doubt  the 
game  they  were  forced  to  play  helped  to  put  the  Free- 
booters into  their  places.  Captain  Denis  St.  George 
Daly  was  captain  of  the  Freebooters  and  played  back,  a 
position  in  which  he  had  in  his  best  days  few  superiors. 
Captain  Daly  had  arranged  a  first-rate  team.  Every 
man  was  exactly  in  his  right  position,  and  was  riding 
ponies  that  suited  him  and  that  were  well  fitted  for 
the  place  they  occupied.  Mr.  Hardy  had  two  ponies 
"Elastic"  and  "Blackman,''  the  former  one  of  the  very 
best  No.  I  ponies  that  I  have  ever  seen.  She  had  a 
rare  turn  of  speed,  could  start  at  a  touch,  and  was  as 
quick  into  her  stride  as  pony  can  be. 

Lord  Southampton  rode  "Lady  Day,"  the  wonder- 
ful chestnut  with  a  white  stocking.    This  pony  com- 


44  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

bined  pace  and  stamina  with  smoothness  of  action  that 
made  riding  her  a  pleasure.  Later  she  passed  into 
the  possession  of  the  Royal  Horse  Guards  team. 
She  was  one  of  the  best  heavy-weight  No.  2  ponies 
of  her  day.  Captain  Le  Gallais  rode  the  Arab 
"Johnnie,"  a  dark  chestnut,  "White  Rose,"  a  beautiful 
high-caste  horse,  and  Mr.  G.  Hardy's  "Sailor,"  sorme- 
what  later  to  be  sold  for  the  highest  price  ever  paid 
for  a  polo  pony.  Probably  he  made  his  name  on 
this  memorable  occasion.  "  Sailor  "  is  still  playing,^  and 
is  as  handy  a  pony  as  ever  he  was. 

Captain  Daly  was  at  that  time  the  owner  of  two 
as  good  ponies  as  any  man  need  wish  to  own.  "Wig" 
was  the  steadiest,  "  Skittles  "  could  all  but  fly.  The 
third,  "Martingale,"  though  not  equal  to  the  other  two 
and  not  too  easy  to  ride,  did  well  in  his  owner's  hands. 
The  team  of  ponies  that  the  Peat  brothers  and  Lord 
Harrington  brought  out  were  a  living  epitome  of  the 
history  of  polo.  There  they  were  all  looking  as  fit 
and  well  as  one  of  the  best  polo  grooms  in  England 
could  make  them.  All  bought  and  schooled  by  their 
owners,  they  had  played  in  every  first-class  match. 
"  Firefly,"  "  Dynamite,"  "  Piper,"  "  Edge,"  "  Sister 
Sue,"  "  Seagull,"  "  Nimble."  Of  these  "  Piper  "  and 
*'  Seagull "  were  perhaps  actually  the  best,  though 
"  Dynamite  "  chiefly  caught  the  public  eye  and  the 
fancy  of  the  spectators.  Lord  Harrington  had  the 
chestnut  "  The  Girl,"  "  Arthur  Roberts,"  and  one- 
eyed  "  Cyclops,"  the  last  named  a  polo  pony,  hack,  and 
cubhunter,  and  good  for  all.    A  trifle  over  the  regula- 

1  1905. 


HURLINGHAM'S  INFLUENCE  ON  POLO  45 

tion  height  he  was,  but  in  those  days  we  were  not  so 
particular.  The  height  was  14.1  it  is  true,  but  if  you 
could  not  find  a  pony  to  suit  you  of  that  height  you 
did  the  best  you  could.  No  one  grumbled,  or  if 
they  did  nobody  paid  any  attention. 

All  Messrs.  Peat's  ponies  were  sold  not  long  after  at 
TattersalFs,  and  "Dynamite"  and  "Nimble"  (bought 
by  Mr.  W.  H.  Walker)  went  for  960  guineas  the  pair, 
by  far  the  largest  price  ever  paid  for  polo  ponies  up  to 
that  time.  "Sailor" — he  played  in  the  same  match — 
was  destined,  as  we  know,  to  beat  the  record  in  price. 
It  was  the  opinion  of  a  sound  judge  who  looked  over 
the  ponies  before  the  match  that  they  were  the  best  lot 
in  the  world,  and  he  was  probably  right.  We  have 
many  first-rate  ponies  now,  but  I  doubt  if  for  play- 
ing qualities  we  could  beat  the  Champion  Cup  team 
of  1894.  The  Sussex  were  the  favourites  of  course. 
Indeed,  though  there  is  not  much  betting  at  polo,  I 
think  an  observant  person  might  have  taken  a  few 
friendly  wagers  at  eight  or  ten  to  one  against  the 
Freebooters.  It  was  well  known  that  Mr.  Arthur 
Peat  had  but  recently  recovered  from  a  severe  illness, 
and  it  was  obvious  to  anyone  that  he  was  not  him- 
self. Lord  Harrington  and  Mr.  A.  E.  Peat  were 
on  the  season's  form  certainly  not  better  than  Lord 
Southampton  and  Captain  Le  Gallais.  So  that  the 
sides  were  in  reality  fairly  well  matched.  Yet  in  those 
days  we  could  see  nothing  but  Mr.  J.  E.  Peat,  and 
had  come  to  believe,  not  without  reason,  that  every 
side  on  which  he  played  must  therefore  be  victorious. 
Looking  back — and  it  is  always  so  easy  to  be  wise 


46  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

after  the  event — we  can  see  plainly  that  the  Freebooters 
were  the  better  balanced  team.  This  game  was  in 
fact  one  of  the  first  great  struggles  between  combin- 
ation and  individual  brilliancy. 

At  first  it  looked  like  an  easy  victory  for  Sussex. 
Twice  Mr.  J.  Peat  scored.  The  first  goal  he  hit, 
and  dropping  on  the  ball,  no  one  knew  whence, 
he  sat  down  on  "  Firefly "  and  in  two  splendid 
strokes  scored.  Once  more  he  won  the  goal,  and  in 
this  we  may  note  he  showed  what  a  fine  player  he 
was.  He  was  galloping  with  the  ball,  but  Captain 
Daly,  strong,  steady,  and  not  to  be  slipped  again,  was 
in  the  right  place  for  a  backhander.  There  was  one 
chance  and  Mr.  Peat  took  it.  Calling  to  Lord 
Harrington  to  take  the  ball  he  hurled  himself  on 
Captain  Daly,  and  gave  his  2  and  3  a  clear  run 
for  the  goal,  of  which  they  availed  themselves. 
Thus  it  was  that  Sussex  justified  their  backers,  and  at 
the  close  of  the  first  quarter  of  an  hour  the  score  was 
Sussex  two,  Freebooters  nil. 

There  was  a  desperate  struggle  later  in  the  game. 
Captain  Daly  played  as  he  had  never  played  before. 
Lord  Southampton  was  in  one  of  his  hitting  moods 
when  nothing  seemed  to  stop  him,  and  Captain  Le 
Gallais  was,  as  always,  a  brilliant  polo  player.  On  the 
other  hand,  Mr.  J.  Peat  was  everywhere  and  always 
effective.  That  the  Freebooters  had  the  best  of  a 
struggle  which  for  eagerness  has  never  been  surpassed, 
was  shown  by  the  fact  that  at  the  close  of  the  third 
quarter  (this  game  was  played  in  fifteen -minute 
periods)  the  score  was  two  all. 


HURLINGHAM'S  INFLUENCE  ON  POLO  47 

Sussex  might,  we  could  now  see,  be  beaten,  but 
we  opened  our  eyes  when,  early  in  the  last  period,  we 
saw  Mr.  Peat  on  "Dynamite"  gallop  away  with  the  ball, 
having  indeed  a  start  of  a  length  in  his  favour. 
Captain  Le  Gallais  on  "  Sailor  "  was  pressing  in  hot 
pursuit.  The  brown  pony  laid  himself  down  to  his 
work.  He  was  actually  overhauling  the  mare.  He 
ranged  alongside,  and  one  of  the  finest  horsemen  in 
India  actually  rode  off  the  Sussex  No.  i.  Could  we 
believe  our  eyes  ?  This  fired  the  Freebooters,  and 
though  the  ball  was  behind  and  Captain  Daly  had  to 
hit  out,  he  made  one  of  the  finest  strokes  of  his  polo 
career.  In  a  polo  game  as  in  war  you  cannot  win 
unless  you  will  take  risks.  Captain  Daly  hit  right 
across  his  own  goal  to  Captain  Le  Gallais  who  galloped 
away  with  the  ball  hitting  on  near  or  offside — he  could 
not  miss  till  just  at  the  end  a  twist  caused  the  ball  to 
get  out  of  his  reach,  but  Mr.  Gerald  Hardy,  steadiest 
of  players,  was  behind  and  struck  it  through  the  goal 
posts,  and  his  too  was  the  hand  that  scored  the  final 
goal  that  enabled  the  Freebooters  to  win  by  four 
goals  to  three. 

I  have  dwelt  on  this  match  because  none  was  ever 
so  important  to  the  future  of  polo  as  this.  It  marked 
the  close  of  the  first  period  of  the  history  of  English 
polo,  and  was  destined  to  give  the  game  a  wider  range. 
One  club,  one  ground,  one  team  were  no  longer  to 
suffice.  It  was  the  coming  of  age  of  the  game  that 
had  been  begun  on  Mr.  Naylor's  orchard  just  twenty 
years  before. 

The  Sussex  team,  and  to  a  great  extent  the  old 


48  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Hurlingham,  passed  away,  and  there  is  a  danger  lest 
men  should  forget  what  horsemen  and  players  they 
were,  what  they  did  for  the  game,  and  what  a  tradition 
of  fair-play  they  have  left  to  those  who  come  after 
them.  But  polo  was  much  too  full  of  life  to  stand 
still,  and,  as  Mr.  Moray  Brown  said  at  the  time,  the 
result  did  "  incalculable  good  to  polo  in  general,'* 
in  so  far  as  it  showed  that  neither  skill  nor  ponies 
could  ensure  a  permanent  superiority  to  any  team. 
The  Sussex  were  no  longer  the  only  team,  and 
Hurlingham  was  no  longer  the  only  ground.  In 
that  year  1894  the  Ranelagh  Club  had  changed 
hands,  and  was  already  started  on  the  progress  which 
will  be  narrated  in  another  chapter. 

But  there  is  yet  a  third  great  match  which  must 
not  be  passed  over  when  telling  the  story  of  the 
Hurlingham  Club.  This  was  again  the  marking  off 
of  a  new  development  of  the  game.  The  Rugby 
Club  on  1 2th  June  1897  won  the  Champion  Cup 
with  a  team  that  showed  combination  and  brilliancy 
together.  There  has  never  been  a  finer  back  player 
than  the  late  Mr.  W.  J.  Drybrough.  A  most 
powerful  horseman,  he  was  a  hard  striker,  and  his 
near-side  backhanders  were  marvellous  for  accuracy 
and  force.  Captain  Ren  ton,  the  Rugby  No.  2,  was 
and  is  a  beautiful  player.  He  is  a  fine  horseman,  and 
his  style  of  riding  and  of  play  are  the  perfection  of 
finish  and  ease.  To  see  Captain  Renton  at  his  best 
was  an  object  lesson  in  polo.  An  excellent  back,  as 
he  proved  when,  in  the  1 7th  Lancers,  he  played  No.  4 
for  his  regimental  team,  he  was  even  better  as  No.  2 


HURLINGHAM'S  INFLUENCE  ON  POLO  49 

in  the  Rugby  team.  Captain  Miller  and  his  brother 
Mr.  G.  A.  Miller  were  business-like  players  as 
always,  whose  interest  in  polo  has  never  flagged  and 
whose  knowledge  of  the  game  is  never  at  fault. 

The  Freebooters  had  Mr.  Hardy,  Mr.  A. 
Rawlinson,  Mr.  W.  Buckmaster,  and  Mr.  John 
Watson.  This  was  Mr.  Buckmaster's  first  appear- 
ance in  a  Champion  Cup.  The  Freebooters  looked 
like  a  very  strong  team,  but  lacked  the  combining 
power  of  the  winning  team  of  1894.  Although  that 
team  had  not  played  very  often  together,  yet  Captain 
Daly  and  Captain  Le  Gallais  had  both  had  experience 
in  regimental  polo  which  enabled  them  to  fit  into  any 
team.  Like  its  predecessor,  the  game  was  played  in 
glorious  weather,  and  it  excited  scarcely  less  interest. 
For  fifty-five  minutes  the  result  hung  in  the  balance. 
It  was  not  until  the  fourth  ten  minutes  that  the 
Freebooters  began  to  show  signs  of  giving  way. 
Rugby  seemed  to  gain  confidence  and  pace  as  the 
game  went  on,  and  the  Freebooters  were  obviously 
struggling  to  avoid  defeat.  At  forty  minutes  neither 
side  had  scored,  but  the  tactics  of  Rugby,  particularly 
those  of  Mr.  E.  D.  Miller,  who  did  all  he  could 
to  make  opportunities  for  Captain  Renton,  were 
beginning  to  tell.  So  fine  and  effective  was  the 
defence  of  both  sides  that  though  each  side  pressed 
in  turn  there  was  no  score  for  fifty-five  minutes. 
In  the  last  three  minutes  Captain  Renton  scored 
twice,  and  the  Rugby  team  won  the  cup,  which 
they  have  held,  with  the  exception  of  1900  and 
1904,   when  the   Old   Cantabs  won   it.      But   they 

E 


50  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

have  never  since  had  quite  so  perfect  a  team.  I  well 
remember  shortly  after  the  match  Mr.  W.  J. 
Drybrough  saying  to  me  that  never  again  would 
Rugby  have  such  a  team,  a  remark  which  received  a 
sad  confirmation  when  one  of  the  finest  "  backs ''  of 
modern  polo  passed  away  from  us  not  many  weeks 
afterwards. 

Thus  we  have  brought  the  history  of  Hurlingham, 
which  is  for  twenty-three  years  the  story  of  polo  in 
England,  down  to  the  present  time.  We  have  seen 
how  at  that  Club  polo  first  took  form,  and  from  an 
aimless  scramble  gradually  rose  to  be  a  game  of  skill. 
The  three  matches  we  have  sketched  show  how  the 
game  developed  until  we  arrive  at  the  present  game 
of  combination.  The  side,  which  consisted  of  four 
men  more  or  less  fitted  into  each  other's  play,  has 
now  become  under  the  Rugby  system,  as  it  were,  a 
single  body  moved  by  a  single  will.  Something  of 
this  was  no  doubt  learned  from  such  teams  as  the 
13th  Hussars  and  the  Durham  Light  Infantry.  The 
pony,  which  in  the  first  stages  had  been  merely  a 
conveyance,  has  now  become  a  highly  trained  and 
perfected  instrument  of  the  player.  The  placing  of 
the  ball  for  one's  own  side  is  now  more  important 
than  any  other  stroke.  The  ball  was  originally 
delivered  in  the  direction  of  the  goal  and  the  rest 
left  to  chance.  I  well  remember  how  we  used  to 
hit  as  hard  as  we  could  and  gallop  as  fast  as  we  were 
able  in  pursuit.  Now  the  main  object  is  to  pass  or 
place  the  ball.  A  first-rate  side  may  and  often  does 
obtain  possession  of  the  ball,  and  by  dexterous  passing 


HURLINGHAM'S  INFLUENCE  ON  POLO  51 

from  one  to  the  other  actually  prevent  the  opponents 
from  touching  it  till  it  is  struck  triumphantly  through 
the  posts.  Every  change  in  the  style  of  play  has 
been  tested  in  the  Champion  Cup,  and  each  of  the 
most  notable  victories  has  marked  an  improvement 
which  has  been  made  in  the  play.  Mr.  Peat  and 
Mr.  Kenyon  Stow  taught  us  to  sit  down  in  the 
saddle  and  strike  with  a  straight  arm.  Mr.  John 
Watson  showed  us  what  the  backhander  could  do, 
and  how  the  No.  4  should  not  only  keep  his  goal 
but  turn  defence  into  attack,  so  that  when  he  had 
successfully  driven  the  ball  from  his  own  goal  he 
was  also  preparing  for  an  attack  on  that  of  his 
opponents.  Lastly,  we  have  learned  by  combination 
how  the  best  can  be  made  of  the  moderate  player. 
Thus,  although  the  importance  of  the  really  first- 
rate  man  is  as  great  as  ever,  the  present  style  of  play 
enables  more  to  be  made  of  the  average  player,  and 
a  well-directed  team  of  mediocrities  will  have  its 
share  of  success. 

But  the  success  of  Hurlingham  in  establishing 
and  improving  the  game  has  not  been  of  unmixed 
benefit  to  the  Club.  There  is  one  thing  the  original 
promoters  of  Hurlingham  polo  could  not,  and  did  not, 
foresee — the  immense  expansion  of  the  game.  The 
development  of  the  Club  is  restricted  by  the  in- 
exorable limits  of  space.  Hurlingham  rules  and  the 
Polo  Committee  have  more  influence  than  ever,  but 
apart  from  its  associations  the  Club  is  one  among 
several  competing  for  the  favour  of  polo  players. 
The  quality  of  its  polo  is  as  high  as  ever,  but  the 


52  POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

quantity  is,  by  no  fault  of  the  Club,  deficient. 
The  splendid  members'  games  which  were  so  good 
to  watch,  have  passed  away  with  the  men  who  made 
them  what  they  were.  Ten  matches  are  now  played 
in  a  week.  Two  were  enough  in  the  old  days.  And 
Hurlingham  in  1904  put  forward  a  programme  of 
sixty-four  matches. 

But  if  the  Hurlingham  Club  has  lost,  as  it  was 
inevitable  it  should  lose,  its  singular  position  as  the 
only  polo  club  in  London,  so  long  as  it  continues 
to  make  rules  for  the  game,  so  long  will  it  be  the 
first  polo  club  in  the  world. 

Recent  changes  have  altered  the  position  of 
Hurlingham.  The  old  Polo  Committee  did  excellent 
service.  The  General  Committee  of  the  Club  nomi- 
nated the  best  players  and  the  men  of  most  influence 
in  the  game.  This  Polo  Committee  met  seldom  and 
moved  but  slowly  in  the  direction  of  change.  Mr. 
Watson's  wise  dictum  that  it  is  much  better  to  leave 
polo  alone  than  to  spoil  it  by  over-legislation,  was 
always  before  the  minds  of  the  Committee.  We  have 
already  seen  under  what  a  very  simple  code  the  game 
flourished.  The  Hurlingham  Polo  Committee, 
though,  moved  slowly,  yet  surely,  and  each  change 
as  it  came  was  an  improvement,  rendered  necessary 
by  the  altered  conditions  of  the  game.  A  more 
scientific  game  requires  stricter  and  more  definite  rules. 

In  1897  the  County  Polo  Association  was 
founded  and  at  once  assumed  a  kind  of  intermediate 
direction  and  guidance  of  county  clubs.  Then 
in    1902    Hurlingham   widened   the  constitution  of 


HURLINGHAM^S  INFLUENCE  ON  POLO  S3 

its  Polo  Committee,  accepted  three  representative 
members  from  the  County  Polo  Association,  two 
from  the  Army  Committee,  and  one  from  Roe- 
hampton.  This  representation  is  weighted  by  the 
condition  that  the  members  sent  from  these  various 
bodies  must  be  members  of  Hurlingham.  The 
voting  power  still  remains  with  Hurlingham.  That 
club  can  outvote  all  the  representatives  combined, 
even  if  Ranelagh  had  sent  the  number  they  were 
invited  to.  This  they  did  not  care  to  do,  having 
a  strong  polo  committee  of  their  own.  The  new 
Hurlingham  Committee,  although  it  is  a  rather 
anomalous  body,  performing  public  functions  after 
the  fashion  of  a  private  Club  Committee,  may 
nevertheless  work  well  enough  in  practice  until 
we  are  ripe  for  a  national  association.  Yet  those 
of  us  who  knew  the  game  in  its  earlier  days 
may  be  forgiven  if  we  look  back  with  regret, 
which  is  not  altogether  sentimental,  on  the  old 
Hurlingham  Committee,  which  had  no  love  for 
change  for  the  sake  of  change.  At  all  events  we 
shall  not  forget  the  debt  of  gratitude  polo  players 
owe  to  the  earlier  Committee  and  the  men  who, 
like  Mr.  John  Watson,  Lord  Harrington,  Mr. 
Gerald  Hardy,  Mr.  A.  Rawlinson,  Captain  St.  G. 
Daly  and  Sir  Walter  Smythe,  helped  to  rule  the 
fortunes  of  the  game,  and  guided  its  developments, 
on  the  whole  wisely  and  well,  through  the  difficult 
years  of  its  beginnings. 


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CHAPTER   III 

THE    RANELAGH    CLUB    AND    THE    EXPANSION    OF    POLO 

The  want  of  space  at  Hurlingham  was  felt  very- 
early  in  the  history  of  the  game.  But  two  circum- 
stances prevented  that  Club  from  extending  its  limits, 
the  feeling  that  polo  was  possibly  only  a  passing 
fashion,  and  a  certain  unwillingness  on  the  part  of  the 
pigeon-shooting  members  to  be  swamped  by  the 
polo  players. 

Among  the  early  polo  players  there  were  none 
better  than  the  two  brothers  Herbert.  Captain,  now 
Major  F.  Herbert,  was  playing  only  the  other  day. 
He  was,  when  I  first  saw  him,  a  very  fine  player 
indeed,  and  a  good  horseman.  Mr.  Reginald  Herbert 
of  Clytha  I  never  saw  at  polo,  as  he  had  retired  from 
first-class  matches  before  my  return  to  England,  but 
he  was  one  of  those  who  were  often  included  in  tour- 

54 


RANELAGH  AND  EXPANSION  OF  POLO  55 

naments,  and  he  had  a  sound  knowledge  of  the  game. 
Mr.  Herbert,  with  the  assistance  of  his  brother  and  of 
Mr.  Kenyon  Stow,  determined  to  supply  the  need  for 
more  polo.  There  was  in  that  year  a  house  and 
grounds  to  let  which  had  belonged  to  the  father  of 
the  last  Lord  Ranelagh.  This  place  had  been  used 
as  a  club  already.  It  was  close  to  Hurlingham,  a 
matter  of  some  moment,  since  polo  players  in  those 
days  were  limited  in  number.  It  seemed  likely  that, 
if  the  two  clubs  were  close  together,  the  members 
would  pass  from  one  to  the  other.  This  was  what 
happened,  and  as  the  Ranelagh  Club  laid  itself  out 
for  pony  racing,  in  which  Mr.  Herbert  and  his 
brother  were  interested,  and  for  which  Hurlingham 
had  no  space  available,  the  new  club  was  at  once 
successful.  The  house  was  a  fine  one  of  the 
comfortable  Georgian  type,  of  which  the  last  occupant 
had  been  Mr.  Johnston,  the  proprietor  of  the 
Standard.  The  idea  of  the  founders  of  Ranelagh 
was  to  establish  a  social  club  on  the  lines  of 
Hurlingham. 

The  year  1878  was  that  of  its  opening.  The 
Club  had  a  strong  Committee,  which  included  such 
names  as  the  late  Duke  of  Beaufort,  Lord  Hartington, 
now  Duke  of  Devonshire,  Mr.  Cavendish,  now  Lord 
Chesham,  Mr.  Henry  Chaplin,  Lords  Shrewsbury 
and  Valentia.  Lord  Shrewsbury  is  still  a  member  of 
the  Committee  of  the  existing  Ranelagh  Club,  and 
Lord  Valentia  is  Chairman  of  the  Hurlingham  Polo 
Committee.  The  Club  seems  to  have  been  a 
pleasant   resort.       Lawn    tennis   tournaments    were 


S6  POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

made  rather  a  feature,  and  pony  shows  and  pony 
racing  drew  considerable  crowds.  The  first  notable 
polo  match  was  one  played  by  electric  light,  at  which 
the  Prince  of  Wales  (King  Edward  VII.),  the  King 
of  Greece,  and  other  distinguished  personages  were 
present.  The  whole  affair  seems  to  have  been  a 
great  success,  and  may  have  done  something  to 
popularise  the  game.  At  all  events  the  presence  of 
the  Prince  of  Wales  stamped  polo  with  the  approval 
of  the  world  of  fashion.  It  will  be  noted  that  the 
sides  now  consisted  of  four  players  :  Hurlingham — 
Lord  Petersham,  better  known  to  polo  players  of  to- 
day as  the  Earl  of  Harrington,  Mr.  J.  Peat,  Mr. 
Wyndham  Quin,  Mr.  E.  Peat,  a  very  strong  side  ; 
Ranelagh — Mr.  A.  Peat,  Lord  Lewes,  Mr.  Anderton, 
and  Mr.  E.  H.  Baldock. 

The  reporter  in  his  admiration  of  the  Chinese 
lanterns  that  were  hung  about  the  grounds  has 
entirely  forgotten  to  tell  us  about  the  game,  which, 
in  spite  of  the  well-arranged  sides,  was  probably  of 
no  great  account.  That  there  was  a  special  ball, 
large  and  light,  manufactured  for  the  occasion,  and 
the  band  played  the  "  Lost  Chord "  during  the 
match,  is  about  the  extent  of  our  information. 

This  fete  gave  a  start  to  Ranelagh,  and  shows 
incidentally  that  people  did  not  take  their  polo  so 
seriously  then  as  we  do  now.  The  Ranelagh  of  that 
day  was  in  no  sense  a  rival  of  Hurlingham.  It  was 
scarcely  a  separate  club.  To  pass  from  one  to  the 
other  was  but  a  step,  and  since  Hurlingham  could 
not  accommodate  more  than  a  part  of  the  members 


RANELAGH  AND  EXPANSION  OF  POLO  57 

who  desired  to  belong  to  it,  people  found  Ranelagh 
a  pleasant  alternative.  In  the  meantime,  the  opening 
of  the  new  club  was  a  sign  of  the  progress  of  polo 
and  the  cause  of  further  expansion.  The  game  was 
played  every  day  except  Sundays  on  one  or  other  of 
the  two  grounds.  The  Ranelagh  Club  had  not,  how- 
ever, at  this  time  a  sufficiently  long  lease  to  give  it 
the  necessary  condition  of  permanence,  and  Mr. 
Herbert  had  to  look  about  for  another  suitable  place. 
The  speculative  builder  had  already  marked  the 
Ranelagh  House  of  that  day  for  his  own.  Now,  on 
the  site  of  the  club-house  and  polo  ground  are  rows 
of  smug  villas  and  blocks  of  flats. 

But  there  could  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  suitability 
of  the  next  site  chosen.  Barn  Elms  was  vacant. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  imagine  a  place  more  fitted 
for  a  club.  The  property  was  a  part  of  the  old 
estate  belonging  to  the  Dean  and  Chapter  of  St. 
PauFs,  and  was  therefore  in  the  hands  of  the 
Ecclesiastical  Commissioners.  The  house,  gardens, 
and  park,  which  were  of  a  delightful  old-world 
character,  covered  about  one  hundred  acres.  Had 
Barn  Elms  been  designed  as  a  polo  club  it  could 
hardly  have  been  better  planned.  The  beauty 
of  the  surroundings  and  the  fact  that  though 
barely  a  mile  from  Hammersmith  bridge  and  less 
from  Putney  it  is  a  perfect  country  house,  give  it  a 
special  charm.  The  grounds  have  two  entrances, 
one  opposite  to  the  village  of  Barnes  and  the  other 
close  to  Putney  Common.  Nor  is  this  all,  for  the 
Club  can  never  be  built  out  ;  it  is  bounded  on  one  side 


58  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

by  Barnes  Common  and  on  another  by  the  reservoir 
of  the  Waterworks,  while  there  is  a  charming  river 
front  separated  and  protected  by  a  wide  stream  from 
the  towing  path.  So  rural  is  the  district  that  within 
the  memory  of  men  now  living  woodcock  and  snipe 
have  been  shot  there,  and  even  as  late  as  1894,  when 
I  was  manager  of  the  Club,  I  have  seen  rabbits  and 
pheasants  in  the  shrubberies  in  the  quiet  hours 
before  the  members  began  to  arrive.  The  grounds 
are  a  paradise  for  birds.  In  1895  ^^^  ^^  ^^^  sights 
of  the  season  was  a  tiny  blue  tit  which  had  built 
its  nest  close  to  the  nozzle  by  which  the  watering 
hose  were  connected  with  the  hydrant.  The  little 
bird  sat  there  undisturbed  by  the  fixing  or  unfixing 
of  the  pipes,  the  tramp  of  the  crowds  on  the  lawn, 
or  the  sounds  of  the  Hungarian  band,  which  was 
stationed  near  the  spot.  But  this  is  anticipating, 
for  at  first  of  course  there  were  small  beginnings. 
One  polo  ground  sufficed,  and  a  race-course  for 
ponies  was  laid  out.  The  club-house  was  fitted  up 
simply  but  comfortably. 

When  Mr.  Herbert  decided  to  give  up  the  man- 
agement in  1894,  the  Club  fell  into  the  hands  of  men 
who  could  see  not  only  its  advantages,  but  could  look 
forward  to  its  future  expansion.  These  men  were 
Dr.  George  Hastings,  Mr.  James  Leslie  Wanklyn, 
M.P.  for  Bradford,  and  Mr.  Charles  Lewinger,  and 
later  Lord  Ava  and  Sir  Stanley  Clarke.  To  Dr. 
Hastings  are  due  chiefly  the  growth  and  success 
of  the  Club.  Nothing  less  than  perfection  would 
satisfy  him.     In  details  he  was  as  thorough  as  in 


S  2 


RANELAGH  AND  EXPANSION  OF  POLO   59 

larger  matters  he  took  wide  views.  No  one  has 
ever  worked  harder  himself  or  been  the  cause  of 
more  work  in  others.  He  caused  some  opposition, 
but  he  was  generally  right,  and  those  who  differed 
most  from  him  at  first  have  often  come  to  see  the 
wisdom  of  his  action.  Dr.  Hastings  was  hard  on 
his  workers,  as  it  seemed  to  them,  but  he  was  always 
loyal  in  supporting  them,  and  gradually  won  the 
confidence  and  esteem  of  them  all.  The  Committee 
of  the  Club  was  a  strong  one,  with  the  Earl  of 
Dudley  as  chairman.  The  fact  remains  that  the 
Club  has  prospered  steadily,  and  holds  a  high  place  * 
not  only  as  a  polo  club,  but  for  its  golf,  croquet,  and 
lawn  tennis.  The  golf,  for  which  Mr.  Wanklyn  did 
a  good  deal,  was  even  more  important  than  the  polo 
at  first.  My  late  friend  Mr.  Adams,  the  secretary 
for  golf,  was  universally  liked.  The  first  secretary 
was  Mr.  G.  A.  Williams,  and  he  is  there  still,  and  the 
first  polo  manager  was  Mr.  Moray  Brown,  with  the 
present  writer  as  his  unofficial  assistant,  and  eventually 
as  his  successor.  It  was  an  interesting  but  anxious 
time.  Yet  there  were  few  set-backs.  There  was 
another  point  in  the  Club's  favour  which  might 
easily  have  escaped  some  men,  but  was  fully  valued  by 
the  new  Committee,  and  their  chairman  Lord  Dudley, 
to  whom  the  Club  owes  much  of  its  prosperity. 
Under  their  care  the  historical  associations  of  the  Club 
with  the  Kitcat  Club  were  cherished,  and  commemor- 
ated in  the  design  for  the  Club's  note-paper,  by  the 
portraits  on  the  walls,  and  the  style  of  decoration 
in  the  house. 


6o  POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

The  first  thing  to  be  done,  if  the  Club  was  to  take 
its  place  in  the  polo  world  as  one  of  the  chief  centres 
of  the  game,  was  to  improve  the  grounds.  You 
cannot  make  a  polo  ground  all  at  once.  It  is  a 
matter  of  labour  and  of  time.  From  the  first  hour 
when  I  went  down  with  Mr.  Moray  Brown  and  we 
tried  to  devise  a  means  of  widening  the  existing 
match  ground,  the  polo  grounds  were  never  out 
of  our  minds.  The  Ranelagh  ground  was  not  then 
what  it  is  now,  the  best  in  London.  Parts  have 
been  taken  up  and  relaid,  hillocks  have  been 
removed,  the  boundary  boards  twice  placed  at  a 
greater  width  apart.  From  one  end  of  the  year 
to  the  other  the  polo  ground  is  a  source  of 
anxiety,  the  object  of  constant  care.  Then  the 
new  ground  was  made,  and  I  can  never  watch  polo 
on  it  without  thinking  of  the  anxieties  of  those 
early  days,  when  the  far  side  after  being  carefully 
laid  began  to  sink  and  become  boggy  and  deep. 
The  polo  players  were  a  pleasant  set,  but  still  they 
always  felt,  not  perhaps  unjustly,  that  if  the  ground 
was  not  right  the  polo  manager  must  somehow  be 
in  fault. 

Then  there  were  the  golf  players,  a  delightful 
set  of  men.  But  if  golf  players  have  a  fault  it  is 
that  they  take  themselves  so  seriously.  Now  at 
Ranelagh  the  golf  players  thought  that  they  were 
in  some  danger  of  being  put  on  one  side  for  the 
polo,  and  the  new  ground  was  near  some  of  their 
beautifully  kept  greens.  So  near  in  fact  that  it 
was  said  that  the  first  day  polo  was  played  on  the 


RANELAGH  AND  EXPANSION  OF  POLO  6i 

new  ground,  an  enthusiastic  golfer  sat  in  the  middle 
of  a  green  to  protect  it  from  sacrilegious  hoofs. 
But  we  did  in  fact  take  every  care  of  the  golfers' 
interests,  and  they  came  to  see  it  and  gave  us  a  hearty 
support  at  last.  Still  it  was  an  anxious  time,  for  the 
Club  was  still  in  the  making.  Then,  too,  from  Dr. 
Hastings'  designs  we  built  a  row  of  boxes.  We 
wondered  if  thirty  would  be  needed.  That  was  not 
ten  years  ago  ;  now  200  boxes  are  not  enough  to 
satisfy  the  wants  of  members.  In  the  early  days  we 
were  feeling  our  way,  and  the  Committee  began  to 
make  the  Saturday  afternoons  as  attractive  as  possible. 
The  entertainments  were,  and  are  successful.  The 
first  polo  gymkhana  was  almost  too  successful,  for 
provision  was  made  for  tea  for  500  people,  and  1 500 
came  down,  and  the  tea  and  cake,  which  were  so 
important  a  feature,  gave  out.  Our  polo  was  good, 
and  a  band  of  keen  players  made  the  Club  their 
headquarters.  Some  of  them.  Captain  Greville,  ist 
Life  Guards,  and  Mr.  E.  T.  Hohler,  his  brother,  and 
Mr.  W.  H.  Walker,  have  retired  from  the  game  ; 
Major  Victor  Ferguson,  Captain  Rose  of  the  R.H.G., 
and  Mr  A.  M.  Knowles  all  met  soldiers'  deaths. 
But  many  of  the  old  players  are  still  in  the  first  rank, 
Mr.  E.  B.  Sheppard,  Lord  Shrewsbury,  Captain 
Heseltine.  Every  year  something  has  been  done  to 
add  to  the  convenience  of  polo  players.  In  1896 
Captain  Miller  and  Mr.  George  Miller  succeeded  to 
the  management  of  the  polo,  while  Lord  Ava  became 
the  general  manager  of  the  Club,  and  afterwards  one 
of  the  directors. 


62  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

The  Ranelagh  Club  has  been  a  great  factor  in  the 
expansion  of  polo. 

The  Committee  have  had  the  interests  of  the 
game  at  heart,  and  have  spared  neither  money  nor 
labour  to  give  opportunities  to  players  and  comfort 
to  spectators.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  when 
Ranelagh  was  reopened  in  1894,  the  future  of  polo 
hung  in  the  balance.  Hurlingham  with  all  its 
advantages  was  limited  in  the  matter  of  space.  Men 
who  keep  three  or  four  ponies  wish  to  have  as  much 
polo  as  possible.  But  Hurlingham  had  then  but 
one  ground,  and  this  was  scarcely  enough  for  the 
existing  players,  and  the  younger  players  had  but 
a  small  chance  of  practice.  When  therefore  the  two 
grounds  at  Ranelagh  were  opened  the  opportunity 
was  eagerly  seized  on.  Many  of  the  members  of 
Hurlingham  joined  the  Club,  and  in  a  very  short  time 
there  were  plenty  of  players  at  both. 

Recruits  flowed  in  rapidly  to  the  game,  and  new 
matches  and  tournaments  were  arranged  and  the 
entry  lists  filled  at  once.  By  the  third  season 
Ranelagh  was  full  to  overflowing  with  eager  candi- 
dates for  polo.  The  grounds  were  improved.  The 
old  ground  was  relaid,  the  new  one  enlarged,  stabling 
was  built,  and  the  boxes  engaged  before  the  paint 
was  dry  on  the  doors.  Then  came  the  building  of 
the  pavilion,  which  has  twice  been  enlarged  and 
improved  since.  I  have  given  a  plan  of  this  building 
among  the  illustrations  of  this  book,  because  the 
Ranelagh  pavilion  is  without  any  question  the  most 
convenient   building,  for  its    purpose    in    existence. 


RANELAGH  AND  EXPANSION  OF  POLO  63 

This  pavilion  was  not,  however,  a  mere  luxury — it 
has  had  a  great  effect  on  the  popularity  of  polo  in 
London.  A  game  is  indeed  first  of  all  for  the 
players,  but  spectators  too  count  for  much  in  the 
prosperity  of  cricket,  football,  and  polo. 

The  taste  for  looking  on  at  polo  had  to  be  created, 
and  the  Ranelagh  pavilion,  with  its  tea-rooms  and  its 
comforts,  owes  its  success  not  so  much  to  these 
luxurious  additions  as  to  the  fact  that  it  is  by  far  the 
best  place  in  London  to  see  a  match  from.  First- 
class  polo,  if  it  is  a  genuine  contest  and  not  a  mere 
exhibition  game,  is  most  attractive  as  a  spectacle. 
Whereas,  at  first,  the  other  entertainments  provided 
drew  away  the  bulk  of  the  spectators,  a  really  fine 
polo  match  is  to-day  sure  of  a  large  and  understanding 
crowd  of  lookers-on.  The  next  step  was  to  rebuild 
the  pavilion  on  the  New  ground,  and  then  came  one 
of  the  greatest  triumphs  of  the  management — the 
construction  of  the  third  ground  and  a  practice 
ground  and  the  building  of  a  third  pavilion  with  a 
terrace  promenade  in  front.  This  last  ground  was 
no  easy  matter,  for  there  was,  across  the  Beverley 
Brook,  a  swampy  though  picturesque  stretch  of 
ground.  This  had  to  be  relaid  with  firm  soil,  and 
tons  of  the  earth  excavated  from  Walsingham  House 
and  the  tube  railways  were  carted  up  to  the  Club  and 
laid  on  the  surface.  The  result  is  a  polo  ground, 
which  appears  on  the  plan  perfectly  level,  and  is 
already  covered  with  a  carpet  of  sound  turf. 

Thus,  since  Ranelagh  was  opened,  polo  has  indeed 
grown.     The  Club  has  trebled  its  opportunities  for 


64  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

play,  more  than  quadrupled  its  accommodation  for 
ponies.  As  to  the  opportunities,  there  were  in  1 904 
eight  tournaments :  the  opening  handicap,  the  Hunt 
Challenge  Cup,  the  Army  Cup,  the  Open  Cup 
(one  of  the  great  polo  events  of  the  year),  the 
Aldershot  Cup  (of  which  more  hereafter),  the 
Novices'  Cup,  the  Subalterns'  Cup,  and  the  Hunt 
tournament.  Altogether  a  total  of  1 1 1  matches 
were  played,  the  largest  number  yet  played  at  one 
club  in  any  polo  season. 

The  services  of  Ranelagh  to  polo  were  marked 
during  the  year  1904  by  two  daring  but  successful 
innovations.  I  refer  to  the  Aldershot  Cup,  which  is 
a  one- day  tournament.  Soldiers'  polo  nowadays 
must  neither  take  up  too  much  time  nor  require  the 
expenditure  of  too  much  money,  and  the  Ranelagh 
Committee  in  instituting  a  cup  which  could  be  played 
for  in  a  single  day,  thus  showing  the  possibility  of 
short  matches,  no  doubt  did  a  considerable  service. 
I  have  always  contended  that  one  way  to  reduce  the 
expenditure  on  polo  is  to  shorten  the  time  of  play. 
The  present  sixty  minutes  is  too  much  for  all  except 
the  best  ponies,  and  much  too  long  for  lookers-on 
except  in  those  games  where  the  best  style  of  play  is 
to  be  seen. 

The  other  step  forward  was  the  formation  of  a 
club  team.  While  such  combinations  as  Handley 
Cross,  the  Magpies,  the  Freebooters,  and  others,  give 
us  excellent  polo,  there  is  not  the  same  interest  attach- 
ing to  their  success  or  failure  as  there  is  to  a  regi- 
mental team,  or  one  representative  of  a  club  or,  like 


RANELAGH  AND  EXPANSION  OF  POLO  65 

the  Old  Cantabs,  of  a  university.  It  is  one  of  the 
promising  signs  of  polo  that  club  teams  are  each 
year  more  in  evidence.  Rugby  and  the  Old  Cantabs 
have  been  hitherto  the  only  teams  to  which  this 
special  kind  of  interest  has  attached,  outside  the  regi- 
mental teams.  Now  Ranelagh  has  a  team  to  re- 
present it,  and  the  followers  of  the  red  and  white  had 
a  new  interest  in  the  season.  A  most  successful 
attempt  it  was,  and  the  team — Captain  L.  C.  D. 
Jenner,  Mr.  A.  Rawlinson,  Mr.  F.  A.  Gill,  and  Mr. 
Scott  Robson — well  upheld  the  honour  of  the  Club. 

The  success  of  Ranelagh  has  thus  led  to  a  great 
expansion  of  the  game,  and  when  Roehampton  (of 
which  I  have  yet  to  write)  was  started  as  a  result  of 
the  demand  for  more  polo,  no  difference  was  noted 
in  the  Ranelagh  Club  gatherings  ;  indeed  the  latter 
Club  has  had  to  exclude  from  all  except  the  open  tour- 
naments players  who  are  not  members  of  the  Club. 

That  polo  exists  at  all  is  due  to  Hurlingham,  that 
it  holds  the  place  it  does  is  the  result  of  the  enter- 
prising and  successful  conduct  of  the  game  at 
Ranelagh  during  the  last  ten  years.  Had  the 
Ranelagh  Club  been  closed  when  Mr.  Herbert  wished 
to  retire,  polo  would  not  have  had  the  position  either 
in  London  or  the  country  which  it  holds  to-day. 
While  the  attractions  of  the  Club  as  a  social  resort 
have  been  acknowledged  everywhere,  its  serious 
side  and  its  great  services  to  the  game  have  been 
somewhat  overlooked. 

Every  game  has,  at  its  beginning,  a  tendency  to  fall 
into  the  hands  of  a  small  circle  of  skilful  players,  and 


66  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

thus  to  discourage  the  beginner.  This  danger  has 
loomed  large  in  the  case  of  polo.  Ranelagh  has  always 
so  managed  the  game  as  to  give  to  all  members  of  the 
Club,  so  far  as  may  be,  equal  rights.  Their  Polo 
Committee,  a  very  strong  and  representative  body, 
has  taken  a  wide  view  on  most  subjects  connected 
with  the  game. 

Every  member  is  sure  of  his  share  of  play,  and 
certain  to  be  placed  in  a  match  in  which  his  powers 
of  play  will  be  exercised  and  tested.  The  convenience 
of  Ranelagh,  of  course,  and  that  it  is  the  best-equipped 
and  most  comfortable  of  social  clubs,  are  advantages 
which  are,  so  to  speak,  thrown  in  for  the  polo  player. 
The  historic  associations,  the  fact  that  it  was  the 
first  club  founded  for  the  express  purpose  of  playing 
polo,  its  twenty-six  years  (i 878-1904)  of  growth, 
the  many  distinguished  players  who  have  used  its 
grounds,  as  well  as  the  unrivalled  beauty  of  the  place 
itself,  make  it  regarded  by  its  older  members  with  an 
affection  and  loyalty  something  akin  to  one's  feeling 
for  one's  regiment  or  university,  and  based  on  the 
same  associations  of  history  and  comradeship. 

But  now  to  turn  to  particular  matches,  we  find 
that  Ranelagh  provides  us  with  some  notable  games, 
each  of  which  marks  an  advance  in  the  game  of  polo. 
In  1899,  on  May  27,  was  played  the  final  of  the 
Hunt  Cup.  This  is  a  challenge  cup  open  to  all 
members  of  hunts,  provided  they  have  subscribed  £20 
to  the  funds  of  the  hunt,  and  followed  the  pack  on 
at  least  ten  occasions.  Two  Hunts,  the  Pytchley 
and  the  Warwickshire,  were  marked  out  for  this  cup. 


RANELAGH  AND  EXPANSION  OF  POLO   67 

Both  hunts  have  clubs  within  reach  of  their  members, 
the  Rugby  ground,  though  actually  in  the  Warwick- 
shire country,  being  convenient  for  Pytchley  men, 
while  the  Warwickshire  Polo  Club  at  Sydenham  Farm, 
Leamington,  is  a  leading  county  club.     The   sides 
were  :  Pytchley — Mr.  C.  Nickalls,  Captain  Renton 
(Hon.  Secretary  of  the  hunt),  Mr.  Walter  Buckmaster, 
and  Mr.  P.  W.  Nickalls  ;    Warwickshire — Mr.  F. 
Hargreaves,    Mr.   F.   J.   Mackey,   Mr.   F.   Freake, 
and   Mr.    W.   J.   Drybrough.     So   evenly  matched 
were  the  teams  that  at  first  both  were  on  the  defensive. 
Like  two  boxers  sparring  for  an  opening,  they  hit  and 
countered,  and  the  play  was  more  careful  than  dashing. 
Mr.  W.  J.   Drybrough  was  in  his  best  form.     It 
was  from  one  of  his  well-placed  backhanders   that 
Warwickshire  was  enabled  to  make  the  first  serious 
attack.     They  just  failed  to  score,  but  they  held  the 
Pytchley  to  their  goal.     Mr.  P.  Nickalls,  always  a 
fine  player,  though   without  the   experience   of  the 
game    that    he   has   now,    defended   well,    and    Mr. 
Buckmaster    was    everywhere.     Yet    at   length    the 
ball  shot  out  of  a  scrimmage  and  through  the  posts. 
Then  the  attacks  from  either  side  grew  more  and 
more  fierce,  as  each  in  turn  failed  to  break  down  the 
defence  of  their  adversaries.     It  was  in  fact  one  of 
the    finest   games  of  defence    that   was    ever    seen. 
There  was  but  one  umpire,  Mr.  G.  A.  Miller,  and 
he  was  only  once  or  twice  called  upon  to  intervene. 
But  as  the  game  went  on  the  Pytchley  men  improved. 
Mr.  C.  Nickalls  as  No.   i,  who  had  in  the  earlier 
stages  been  somewhat  baffled   by  Mr.   Drybrough, 


68  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

particularly  when  that  player  was  riding  the  white- 
faced  chestnut  "  Charlton,"  probably  one  of  the  best 
No.  4  ponies  that  ever  played  in  a  game,  improved  as 
he  went  on.  The  goals  came  but  slowly,  and  one  all 
was  the  score  up  to  within  three  short  minutes  of  the 
last  bell.  Then  Warwickshire,  admirably  mounted, 
were  seen  to  be  stretching  away  towards  the  goal  at 
the  Hammersmith  end.  At  the  moment  when 
victory  seemed  within  their  grasp  Mr.  Patteson 
Nickalls  hit  a  masterly  backhander,  then  shouted  to 
Mr.  Buckmaster  to  take  it,  and  like  one  man  the 
Pytchley  team  came  round  for  a  combined  rush. 
Defence  had  become  attack.  Mr.  Buckmaster  had 
possession,  near  side  or  off  side  were  the  same  to  him 
till  chancing  on  some  rough  ground  the  ball  twisted 
and  bumped,  but  Captain  Renton  was  there  and  with 
one  of  the  neatest  of  wrist  strokes  made  an  angle 
shot  and  hit  the  ball  through.  As  it  rolled  between 
the  posts  the  bell  rang,  and  the  Pytchley  Hunt  were 
victorious. 

The  Hunt  Cup  was,  owing  to  this  and  other 
notable  matches  to  which  it  has  given  occasion,  the 
first  of  the  Ranelagh  tournaments  to  attract  notice, 
but  the  same  year  the  Open  Cup  final  was  one  of  the 
most  interesting  games  of  the  season.  In  this 
tournament  the  challengers  play  off  the  ties,  the 
winners  meeting  the  holders  of  the  cup  in  the  final. 
Although  this  apparently  gives  an  advantage  to  the 
holders,  yet  this  Cup  has  changed  hands  as  often  as 
any.  It  generally  comes  late  in  the  season,  when 
there  are  few  matches   of  the  first  importance  left 


RANELAGH  AND  EXPANSION  OF  POLO  69 

undecided,  and  the  players  are  in  their  very  best 
form.  There  is  probably  no  match  of  the  season 
which  is  a  more  perfect  example  of  scientific  polo. 
If  a  critic  of  the  game  wishes  to  see  the  state  of  polo 
in  any  one  year,  let  him  follow  carefully  the  first-class 
teams  in  the  Ranelagh  Open  Cup. 

But  in  recent  days  no  matches  have  excited  so 
much  interest  and  excitement  as  the  three  played 
by  Ranelagh  teams  against  the  American  players. 
Of  these  men  and  their  skill  I  have  written  else- 
where in  this  book.  Two  of  the  games  of  which  I 
write  were  friendly  matches.  The  wet  ground  on 
the  first  two  days  seemed  to  suit  the  Americans. 
I  had  on  both  occasions  looked  over  the  ponies 
and,  putting  aside  one  or  two,  they  were  not  equal 
in  make  and  shape  to  the  class  of  pony  which  is 
usually  seen  at  Ranelagh.  But  in  practice  they 
proved  to  be  able  to  turn  quickly  and  spring  sharply 
into  their  stride  in  a  way  that  made  them,  on  a 
wet  day  and  with  the  ground  cut  up,  quite  able  to 
hold  their  own.  The  Americans  won  both  matches, 
showing  a  remarkable  aptitude  in  adapting  themselves 
to  our  English  rules  of  offside  and  stick-crooking. 
The  brothers  Waterbury  had  never  been  in  England 
before,  but  they  had  played  with  Mr.  Kenyon 
Stow  in  America,  who  was  one  of  the  best  of  the 
early  players  of  the  game.  These  were  some  of 
the  few  games  in  which  both  brothers  Waterbury 
played  during  the  visit  of  the  American  team. 

This  was  Mr.  Gill's  first  season  of  management, 
and  he  was  at  once  wise  in  securing,  and  fortunate 


70  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

in  having  the  opportunity  to  arrange,  these  matches. 
We  shall  not  easily  forget  the  first  match.  The  rain 
poured  down  during  the  whole  game.  It  was  played 
on  the  new  ground  on  which  the  recentiy  built 
pavilion  was  being  used  for  the  first  time.  But,  rain 
or  fine,  every  one  wanted  to  see  the  Americans,  and 
every  inch  of  shelter  was  occupied.  Those  who 
wished  to  watch  the  play  closely  had  perforce  to  stand 
out  in  the  rain.  Yet  in  the  excitement  of  the  match 
that  followed  everything  was  forgotten  except  the 
interest  of  the  moment.  The  American  team  were 
Messrs  Cowdin,  Mr.  M.  Waterbury,  Mr.  Agassiz, 
and  Mr.  L.  Waterbury.  Their  opponents  were  called 
the  Old  Cantabs,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  there  were 
but  two  of  that  team  among  them.  Mr.  W.  M'Creery 
(from  California),  Mr.  C.  Nickalls,  Oxford,  Mr.  W. 
Buckmaster,  and  Mr.  C.  D.  Miller  made  up  the 
team.  The  impression  that  remained,  when  at  last 
the  Americans  won,  was  that  they  were  too  quick  for 
our  men.  They  were  in  fact,  on  the  day,  the  better 
team.  Mr.  L.  Waterbury's  defence  was  very  strong 
indeed,  and  Mr.  M.  Waterbury's  attack  very  dash- 
ing, while  sounder  players  in  a  fast  game  than 
Mr.  Agassiz  and  Mr.  Cowdin  no  one  would  wish 
to  see. 

The  combination,  or  perhaps  the  confidence,  of  the 
English  team  was  not  good.  The  men  did  not  suit 
each  other's  play.  Profiting  by  the  lessons  of  defeat, 
Mr.  Gill  on  the  next  occasion  strengthened  his  team, 
which  now  consisted  of  Mr.  F.  M.  Freake,  Mr.  F. 
A.  Gill,  Mr.  W.  Buckmaster,  and  Mr.  P.  Nickalls. 


RANELAGH  AND  EXPANSION  OF  POLO  71 

The  Americans  put  Mr.  Agassiz,  a  player  who  raised 
his  reputation  very  much  by  the  style  of  his  play  in 
England,  as  No.  i,  Mr.  "  Monty  "  Waterbury  No.  2, 
Mr.  Foxhall  Keane  No.  3,  and  Mr.  L.  Waterbury 
"  back."  At  first  Ranelagh  had  the  better  of  the 
struggle.  Mr.  Freake,  who  combined  hard  and 
strong  hitting  with  a  fast  pony,  made  several  fine 
runs  and  scored  a  goal  for  his  side.  The  two 
Waterburys  then  seemed  to  improve  as  though  by 
magic,  and  we  realised  how  good  they  were.  They 
made  a  splendid  goal  by  combined  play.  When  we 
recollect  that  in  America  the  grounds  are  much 
harder  than  with  us,  and  that  the  absence  of  offside 
and  stick-crooking  throws  open  the  goal  to  hard 
riding  and  hard  hitting,  their  adaptation  to  the  new 
conditions  was  little  short  of  wonderful,  and  stamped 
the  two  brothers  as  first-class  players,  according  to 
the  English  standard. 

I  believe  our  American  visitors  were  much  struck 
by  a  goal  which  Mr.  Buckmaster  backhanded  in  his 
peculiarly  graceful  style.  Nevertheless  the  Americans 
steadily  gained  the  upper  hand,  and  made  two  goals 
in  quick  succession.  Once  more  Mr.  Freake,  in 
brilliant  style,  galloped  out  with  the  ball,  and,  never 
touched  or  hindered  and  seemingly  quite  unhampered 
by  the  ground,  which  by  this  time  was  somewhat  cut 
up,  made  a  splendid  goal.  In  the  end  the  American 
team  won  by  five  goals  to  three.  This  was  perhaps 
their  high-water  mark,  and  I  think  no  one  who  saw 
the  matches  in  the  International  tournament  will 
consider  that  they  quite  equalled  the  form  shown  on 


72  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

this  occasion.      It  was  evident   that  the   Ranelagh 
ground  suited  their  play. 

There  was  another  memorable  event  at  Rane- 
lagh when  the  American  visitors  played  a  match 
before  their  Majesties  the  King  and  Queen,  and 
the  Prince  and  Princess  Charles  of  Denmark. 
There  were,  it  is  said,  more  than  five  thousand 
people  present.  Certainly  the  Club  was  very  full, 
although  the  space  at  Ranelagh  enables  a  large 
number  of  people  to  see  the  game.  It  was  a 
great  struggle,  and  fought  out  with  pluck  to  the 
very  end.  The  Americans  again  altered  their  ar- 
rangement, the  brothers  Waterbury  being  i  and  4 
respectively,  and  Mr.  Cowdin  and  Mr.  Foxhall 
Keane  2  and  3.  This  enabled  these  old  friends  and 
polo  partners  to  be  together,  and  as  they  thoroughly 
understood  one  another's  play  the  team  was  strength- 
ened thereby.  The  Ranelagh  team  was  a  strong  one 
— Captain  L.  C.  D.  Jenner,  Mr.  Rawlinson,  Mr. 
Gill,  and  Mr.  Scott-Robson.  The  last  named  is  a 
fine  player  from  South  America,  with  the  rare  gift  of 
being  able  to  play  with  either  the  right  or  left  hand. 
He  is  a  fine  horseman  and  a  hard  hitter,  rather 
handicapped  by  his  weight.  Another  point  of  interest 
to  polo  players  is  that  both  the  present  polo  managers 
of  Ranelagh  were  in  the  game.  Captain  Jenner 
snatched  the  ball  and  raced  away  to  the  goal.  Mr. 
Gill  rode  hard  and  worked  hard,  and  he  and  Mr. 
Rawlinson  combined  well  in  attack.  The  last  named 
is  a  tower  of  strength  to  any  side  if  he  can  attack, 
and  Ranelagh  led  at  half-time  by  one  goal.     Mr.  M. 


RANELAGH  AND  EXPANSION  OF  POLO  73 

Waterbury  made  a  splendid  long  shot  at  about  this 
period  of  the  game,  and  he  is  evidently  an  adherent 
of  the  sound  polo  maxim  that  when  the  goal-posts 
are  open  it  is  wise  to  try  for  a  long  shot.  It  was  an 
exciting  struggle,  and  the  score  was  four  all,  and  but 
three  minutes  remained.  Ranelagh  pressed,  and 
Captain  Jenner,  who  had  scored  the  first  goal  of  the 
match,  also  hit  the  last  and  winning  stroke.  Thus 
the  Ranelagh  Club  was  able  to  show  to  one  of  the 
largest  gatherings  of  the  season  one  of  the  most 
exciting  matches  in  the  memorable  Coronation  year. 
The  Ranelagh  Club,  which  was  the  first  London 
social  club  for  the  express  purpose  of  the  game 
of  polo,  is  now  the  largest  in  the  world.  It 
has  three  polo  grounds  and  a  most  comfortable  and 
luxurious  club-house.  The  financial  success  of  the  Club 
has  enabled  the  managers  to  expend  large  sums  (more 
than  ;£3 0,000)  on  improvements,  without  borrowing. 
The  men  who  supplied  the  original  capital  have  been 
content  with  a  modest  ^ve  per  cent.  I  do  not  think 
that  any  one  who  visits  Ranelagh  for  the  first  time 
as  it  is  now,  will  accuse  me  of  exaggeration  if  I  say 
that  it  is  quite  the  best  equipped  and  best  managed 
club  of  its  kind  in  the  world.  The  situation  is  in- 
comparable, the  beauty  of  the  grounds,  the  old-world 
character  of  the  house,  which  has  not  been  spoiled 
by  the  additions  made  to  it,  give  a  charm  to  the  Club, 
and  make  it  one  of  the  most  notable  resorts  that 
fashion  has  ever  had.  Ranelagh  on  Saturday  after- 
noons when  some  great  polo  matches  are  to  be  played 
— the  final  of  the  Army  Cup,  the  Hunt  Cup,  the 


74 


POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 


Open  Cup,  or  the  Novices,  or  when  Royalty  is  there 
— is  one  of  the  most  brilliant  sights  in  the  world, 
and  certainly  one  which  no  foreign  visitor  should 
miss  if  he  wishes  to  see  English  society  at  play,  and 
polo  at  its  best. 


CHAPTER   IV 


THE    GROWTH    OF    POLO    IN    LONDON    AND    THE 
PROVINCES 


The  development  of  polo,  after  the  reconstruction 
of  the  Ranelagh  Club  in  1894,  was  so  rapid  that  the 
demand  for  time  and  space  for  play  was  quite  beyond 
the  power  of  Hurlingham  and  Ranelagh  to  satisfy. 
For  a  short  time  the  Wimbledon  Club  had  a 
considerable  success.  Its  grounds  were  well  laid 
out  and  the  class  of  polo  played  was  excellent.  But 
Wimbledon  had  one  disadvantage  to  contend  with — 
it  was  too  far  away  from  London,  and  society  would 
not  drive  the  extra  distance  or  travel  in  crowded 
trains  on  a  Saturday  afternoon.  So  in  spite  of  a 
polo  management  that  was  as  good  as  any  we  have 
seen,  and  a  ground  that  a  few  years'  care  would  have 

75 


76  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

made  delightful  to  play  on,  Wimbledon  ceased  to 
exist  as  a  club,  and  the  ground  is  now  used  by  the 
Household  Brigade  as  a  private  polo  ground.  Thus 
the  failure  of  Wimbledon  and  the  success  of  Ranelagh 
alike  opened  the  way  for  a  new  club.  The  Grove 
House  estate  at  Roehampton  was  available,  and  the 
Roehampton  Club  was  started.  Captain  Miller, 
the  manager,  had  had  much  experience.  The  Rugby 
Club  had  been  practically  founded  by  him.  He  had 
made  the  annual  tournament  of  that  Club  one  of  the 
events  of  the  autumn  polo  season,  and  he  had 
learned,  with  the  assistance  of  Mr.  G.  A.  Miller, 
during  a  successful  polo  managership  at  Ranelagh, 
how  to  conduct  a  London  club.  The  Rugby  team 
were  Champion  Cup  winners,  and  the  most  skilled 
in  a  close  yet  flexible  combination.  The  team  which 
played  for  Rugby  in  1897  was  one  of  the  best 
civilian  polo  teams  seen  in  our  time.  Roehampton 
was  founded  and  started  into  existence  full  grown, 
with  three  polo  grounds,  a  comfortable  pavilion,  and 
water  laid  on  to  all  the  grounds.  The  Club  has  a 
charming  situation  between  Roehampton  lane  and 
Priory  lane,  and  the  founders  were  fortunate  in 
securing  a  seven  years*  lease,  and  earned  our  gratitude 
by  keeping  at  bay  the  builder,  to  whom  its  three 
frontages  must  be  an  immense  temptation.  Roe- 
hampton has  no  club-house,  but  the  pavilion  is  well 
arranged,  with  luncheon-  and  tea-rooms  and  a  draw- 
ing-room for  lady  visitors.  Some  of  the  Household 
Cavalry  established  their  regimental  games  there,  and 
a  good  programme  of  tournaments  was  started.    The 


THE  GROWTH  OF  POLO  77 

first  season  was  marked  by  some  admirable  games 
and  matches,  and  in  spite  of  great  disadvantages  (it 
was  the  Coronation  year,  the  American  teams  were 
playing  their  international  matches,  and  the  weather 
was  as  bad  as  it  could  be)  the  club  grew.  The  last 
two  seasons  have  been  better,  and  Roehampton  has 
had  time  to  develop,  and  by  1904  the  club  had  a 
strong  and  representative  team  who  are  at  present 
the  holders  of  the  Ranelagh  Open  Cup,  beating  the 
winners  of  the  Champion  Cup  of  1904.  It  is  true 
the  Old  Cantabs  were  out  of  form,  but  with 
Rugby  not  up  to  their  full  strength,  Roehampton 
was  the  best  team.  Much  good  polo  is  played 
on  the  Roehampton  grounds,  but  there  has  never 
perhaps  been  any  match  to  excel  in  interest  two 
which  were  played  in  the  Inauguration  Cup.  The 
former  was  the  first  match  on  English  ground  in 
which  the  Americans  were  defeated,  the  latter  was 
one  of  the  closest  games  ever  fought.  It  was  drawn 
at  last,  for  one  of  the  Rugby  men  met  with  a  serious 
accident.  I  take  the  account  from  the  excellent 
report  given  in  the  Field  oi  17th  May  1902.  The 
Americans  were  represented  by  Mr.  T.  Cowdin,  Mr. 
J.  M.  Waterbury,  Mr.  R.  Agassiz,  Mr.  L.  Water- 
bury  ;  and  Rugby  by  Messrs  C.  and  M.  Nickalls, 
Mr.  G.  A.  Miller,  and  Mr.  P.  Nickalls.  "The 
English  team,  playing  in  great  form,  hit  the  first 
three  goals  in  succession,  and  then  the  Americans 
had  a  turn,  and  in  the  third  and  fourth  periods  .  .  . 
they  secured  the  lead  by  hitting  four  goals  in  succes- 
sion.    Towards  the  end  of  the  game  Rugby  had  all  the 


78  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

play,  Mr.  G.  A.  Miller  being  in  great  form,  and  they 
eventually  won  by  six  goals  to  four/'  In  the  other 
match  Rugby,  as  above,  met  Roehampton — Mr.  Walter 
Jones,  Mr.  A.  Rawlinson,  Mr.  Buckmaster,  and  Mr. 
C.  D.  Miller.  There  was  no  score  in  the  first  period, 
nor  did  the  play  promise  the  fine  struggle  that  was  to 
follow.  The  feature  of  the  game  was  the  fine  play 
of  Mr.  A.  Rawlinson  and  the  steady  defence  of  Mr. 
Miller.  Nothing  better  than  these  two  players  could 
be  seen.  It  was  a  brilliant  game,  and  the  Prince  and 
Princess  of  Wales  stayed  to  the  close. 

This  was  the  formal  opening  of  the  Club. 

The  leading  tournaments  played  at  Roehampton 
are,  besides  the  usual  club  handicaps,  the  Public 
Schools  Cup,  a  series  of  matches  which  ought  to 
grow  in  importance  as  the  number  of  public- 
school  men  who  play  polo  increases  with  each  succeed- 
ing season  ;  the  Ladies'  Nomination  Tournament  ; 
and  the  Roehampton  Cup,  played  for  under  the  same 
conditions  as  the  Rugby  Cup.  This  tournament 
secures  good  entries,  but  in  point  of  the  number  of 
teams  competing,  the  Junior  Championship  is  the 
most  notable. 

Indeed  there  are  no  more  remarkable  instances 
of  the  development  of  polo  than  the  fact  that  the 
Ranelagh  Novices'  Cup  and  the  Roehampton  Junior 
Championship  are  the  tournaments  which  secure  the 
largest  number  of  entries.  Nor  is  this  all,  for  both 
contests  are  noted  for  the  very  high  average  of  play. 
In  these  matches  you  will  see  displayed  combination, 
as  well  as   individual  skill  and  control  of  the  ball. 


THE  GROWTH  OF  POLO  79 

such  as  we  should  have  looked  for  in  vain  a  few 
years  ago  anywhere  but  in  a  first-class  match,  or  in 
those  members'  games  which  were  to  be  seen  at 
Hurlingham  in  the  years  1890-94. 

The  Roehampton  Club  started  with  everything 
to  be  done,  but  the  managers  report  that  they  were 
able  to  improve  the  grounds  during  1904,  and  that 
the  practice  ground  has  been  levelled  and  boarded. 
The  following,  which  is  from  the  report  of  1 905,  may 
give  an  idea  both  of  the  work  done  by  the  club  and 
the  development  of  the  game  in  the  last  three  years  : 

Polo  began  on  19th  April,  and  continued  till  28th  July, 
during  which  time  there  were  83  playing  days,  and  although 
polo  was  stopped  on  15  days  owing  to  wet  weather,  104 
matches  were  finished.  The  ist  Life  Guards  and  2nd  Life 
Guards  held  their  Regimental  games  on  18  different  days, 
and  27  members'  games  took  place.  In  all  167  different 
games  and  matches  took  place.  The  matches  did  not 
commence  till  May,  so  during  the  12  weeks  of  the  regular 
season  an  average  was  kept  up  of  between  8  and  9  matches 
per  week,  and  between  5  and  6  other  games.  .  .  .  During 
the  whole  season  6804  ponies  entered  the  gates  during  the 
afternoons,  and  this  does  not  include  the  very  large  number 
that  used  the  club  for  practice  in  the  mornings. 

Besides  the  leading  polo  clubs  with  their  luxurious 
surroundings,  polo  is  played  on  several  grounds  near 
London,  all  of  them  somewhat  less  easily  accessible 
than  Hurlingham  and  Ranelagh,  and  having  the 
common  characteristic  that  they  have  no  club-house 
or  other  accommodation  for  members  than  a  pavilion 
more  or  less  commodious. 


8o  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

These  clubs  depend  almost  entirely  on  their  polo 
grounds  for  attracting  spectators.  They  have  the 
advantage  of  making  the  game  considerably  less 
expensive,  their  subscription  and  entrance  fees 
being,  with  the  exception  of  Roehampton,  not  more 
than  half  those  of  the  older  clubs.  Of  these  clubs 
the  first  to  be  established  was  Eden  Park.  The 
possession  of  an  excellent  polo  ground,  at  one  time 
the  only  one  that  was  of  full  size,  i.e.  300  x  200 
yards,  was  a  great  advantage.  Excellent  manage- 
ment and  the  support  of  some  keen  and  enthusiastic 
players  gave  this  Club  a  success  from  its  establish- 
ment. 

For  some  time  the  Royal  Horse  Guards  made 
Eden  Park  the  practice  ground  of  their  team.  There, 
were  partly  trained  those  admirable  players  who 
made  up  the  four  which  held  so  strong  a  hand  in 
the  Inter-Regimental  Tournaments  of  1903  and  1904. 

The  Eden  Park  Club,  which  is  near  Beckenham, 
has  one  of  the  best  natural  polo  grounds  it  is  possible 
to  conceive.  The  situation  is  picturesque,  the  turf 
is  level,  sound,  and  old,  there  are  magnificent  trees 
which  shade  the  ground  and  give  shelter  to  the 
waiting  ponies.  There  are  excellent  stables  for  about 
seventy  ponies,  and  a  most  comfortable  and  well- 
arranged  pavilion.  The  subscription  is  five  guineas. 
The  Club  was  founded  by  Mr.  Percy  BuUivant  and 
Mr.  L.  Bucknall  in  1897.  The  first  manager  was 
Colonel  Sanders  Darley,  the  present  one  is  Mr.  F. 
C.  Nash.  Soon  after  the  opening  of  the  Club  in 
1897  one  of  those   opportunities  occurred   that  go 


THE  GROWTH  OF  POLO  8i 

far  to  give  a  club  a  start.  As  has  been  narrated  else- 
where, the  County  Cup  had  passed  into  the  hands 
of  the  County  Polo  Association.  The  Hurlingham 
Polo  Committee,  with  but  one  match  ground,  did 
not  at  that  time  see  their  way  to  grant  a  day  for  a 
Cup  no  longer  under  their  own  control.  It  must 
be  recollected  that  the  Hurlingham  Polo  managers 
had  already  a  heavy  list  of  games  and  tournaments 
to  provide  for.  Eden  Park,  several  of  whose 
members  were  on  the  council  of  the  County  Polo 
Association,  opened  its  gates  to  the  semi-finals  and 
final  of  the  County  Cup,  and  before  a  crowded 
company  one  of  the  best  matches  in  the  annals  of 
that  Cup  was  fought  out  on  the  Eden  Park  ground. 
It  was  not  merely  a  good  county  match  but  one  of 
the  best  matches  of  the  season,  and  one  of  the  most 
exciting  in  the  history  of  county  polo.  In  offering 
their  ground  for  the  match,  Eden  Park  not  only 
benefited  themselves  but  gave  a  stimulus  to  county 
polo  all  over  England.  The  Cup  of  1898  drew  an 
excellent  entry.  The  earlier  matches  were  interest- 
ing, for  such  teams  as  Rugby,  Warwickshire,  Chisle- 
hurst,  Stansted,  Feltham  Park,  Eden  Park  A  were 
among  the  competitors.  Of  these  Stansted,  the 
holders  of  the  Cup,  and  Chislehurst  were  left  in  the 
final.  The  afternoon  of  14th  July  was  a  lovely  one. 
The  stand  was  full  of  ladies,  and  most  of  the  best- 
known  polo  men  were  present.  The  turf  was  in 
excellent  condition.  There  were  some  famous  ponies 
playing,  and  the  Stansted  men  were  particularly  well 
mounted.     Mr.   Guy  Gilbey  made  full  use  of  his 


82  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

well-known  No.  i  pony,  "  Black  Diamond."  Mr. 
Tresham  Gilbey,  who  never  played  a  better  game 
than  he  did  that  day  as  No.  3,  rode  "  Spinster,"  one 
of  the  handiest  ponies  of  the  day,  and  a  plain  but 
very  useful  Argentine  of  the  dun  colour  known  as 
"  buckskin  "  in  America. 

Stansted  had  Messrs.  Guy  Gilbey,  P.  Gold,  Tres- 
ham Gilbey,  and  Gerald  Gold  ;  Chislehurst,  Messrs. 
Cecil  Nickalls,  H.  Savill,  M.  Nickalls,  and  P.  Nickalls. 
The  latter  team  came  from  a  new  club  and  one  that 
in  the  course  of  its  brief  existence  has  produced  three 
first-class  players  in  the  Messrs.  Nickalls.  Stansted, 
having  the  greater  experience,  and  perhaps  better- 
trained  ponies,  were  quicker  on  the  ball  than  their 
opponents.  Both  teams  were  willing  and  able  to 
gallop,  and  revelled  in  the  freedom  of  the  large 
ground.  It  was  a  fast  game  from  start  to  finish. 
Stansted  made  a  goal  in  the  first  few  minutes  and 
then  came  a  desperate,  struggle.  As  Chislehurst 
gained  confidence,  so  they  improved  their  position. 
It  was  then  that  Mr.  P.  Nickalls  showed,  for  the 
first  time,  what  a  fine  back  player  he  is.  With 
constant  pressure  on  his  goal  he  nevertheless  kept 
the  ball  away  from  it.  Yet  it  was  a  near  thing. 
The  ball  was  over  the  boundary  line  continually  and 
several  times  Chislehurst  hit  out  in  self-defence. 
Then  came  the  fateful  third  period.  The  young 
Oxford  players — for  I  believe  they  all  learned  polo  on 
Port  Meadow — had  condition  on  their  side.  Chisle- 
hurst hit  out,  kept  possession  of  the  ball,  and 
Stansted  lost  for  a  time  their  combination.     It  was 


THE  GROWTH  OF  POLO  83 

Mr.  H.  Savill,  on  a  brown  pony  of  the  race  of 
"  Hermit  "  that  showed  extraordinary  smoothness  of 
action  and  a  great  turn  of  speed,  who  hit  the  desired 
goal.  It  was  again  Mr.  Savill  who  saved  the  Chisle- 
hurst  goal  when  the  ball  seemed  to  us,  who  were 
looking  on,  to  be  on  the  point  of  rolling  over  the 
line.  After  the  fourth  ten  minutes  Chislehurst 
gained  the  upper  hand  and  won  a  close  and  exciting 
game. 

Thus  within  a  year  of  its  start  did  Eden  Park 
make  itself  a  name  in  the  history  of  polo,  and  its  roll 
of  members  is  now  nearly  six  hundred.  The  Club 
has  continued  to  prosper,  and  each  year  the  manager 
puts  forward  an  attractive  list  of  matches.  Such 
clubs  as  this  have  a  great  influence  on  the  game,  for 
they  make  polo  known  to  many  people  who  would 
otherwise  never  see  it,  and  enable  men  to  play  the 
game  at  its  best  for  a  moderate  expenditure. 

The  next  club  to  be  founded  was  the  London  Polo 
Club,  at  the  Crystal  Palace.  The  first  managers 
were  Major  F.  Herbert,  late  9th  Lancers,  and  Major 
Cecil  Peters,  late  4th  Hussars.  Both  were  first-rate 
players,  and  Major  Herbert  had  had  considerable 
experience  in  the  management  of  polo  clubs.  Both 
in  Monmouthshire,  which  was  one  of  the  earliest  of 
county  clubs,  and  at  the  old  and  new  Ranelagh 
Major  F.  Herbert  had  managed  polo  with  success. 
The  Crystal  Palace  ground  is  a  good  one,  and  except 
that  it  is  more  level  is  not  unlike  Hurlingham  in 
shape.  I  have  heard  it  argued  by  a  most  experienced 
player  that  an  oval  ground  is  really  better  for  polo 


84  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

than  the  usual  parallelogram.  I  do  not,  however, 
think  that  opinion  can  be  sustained  ;  nevertheless,  we 
have  seen  some  first-rate  matches  on  the  London 
Polo  Club  ground.  The  situation,  too,  has  its 
advantages.  A  polo  club  should  if  possible  not  be 
isolated  but  have  other  clubs  within  reach,  so  that 
matches  with  visiting  teams  can  be  arranged.  The 
London  Polo  Club  has  Woolwich  and  Eden  Park 
within  a  reasonable  distance,  and  ponies  can  easily  be 
sent  thither  by  road  from  Hurlingham  and  Ranelagh. 

Then  the  London  Polo  Club  keeps  a  good  stud 
of  ponies  which  can  be  hired  by  members.  This  is 
a  great  advantage  to  Indian  and  Colonial  players  who 
are  making  a  short  stay  in  this  country,  and  wish  to 
play  polo  in  England  without  burdening  themselves 
with  a  stud  of  ponies.  Thus  the  London  Polo  Club 
has  become  international  and  cosmopolitan  in  its 
character.  Some  of  the  most  noted  Indian  and 
Colonial  players  have  been  seen  on  its  ground  during 
the  seasons  polo  has  been  played  there,  and  several 
tournaments  played  at  this  club  can  compete  with 
those  at  the  older  clubs  both  in  the  interest  they 
excite  and  in  the  quality  of  play. 

I  pass  on  now  to  the  Enghsh  and  Irish  County 
Polo  Associations,  which  will  fitly  conclude  a  chapter 
on  polo  clubs. 

The  County  Polo  Association  is  one  of  the  chief 
notes  of  the  advance  of  polo.  In  my  chapter  of 
recollections  I  have  said  that  the  establishment 
of  this  Association  was  one  of  the  most  important 
events  in  the  story  of  modern  polo.     Nor  do  I  think 


THE  GROWTH  OF  POLO  85 

that  this  view  is  in  any  way  an  exaggeration.  There 
were  indeed  a  number  of  county  clubs  before  the 
Association  was  formed,  but  many  led  a  struggling 
existence.  County  polo  needed  support, "regulation, 
and  unity.  Hurlingham  was  then  to  a  certain  extent 
in  a  state  of  transition  between  a  private  club  and  a 
public  body,  and  the  county  clubs  did  not  receive 
very  much  encouragement.  For  one  thing,  I  do  not 
think  a  great  many  people  believed  in  the  spread  of 
polo  beyond  London  and  Dublin  and  a  few  favoured 
centres  like  Liverpool,  Edinburgh,  and  Rugby.  The 
idea  was  strongly  fixed  that  polo  was  a  game  for 
men  of  money,  and  that  it  would  never  spread  in 
the  country  on  account  of  the  expense.  Two  men, 
however,  believed  greatly  in  county  polo,  Mr.  Moray 
Brown  and  Mr.  Tresham  Gilbey.  I  have  often 
discussed  the  future  of  polo  with  them  both.  I 
think  we  saw  that  if  polo  depended  on  the  favour 
of  fashion,  the  tide  which  had  borne  it  to  prosperity 
might  ebb  as  well  as  flow,  and  that  the  permanence 
of  the  game  depended  on  its  establishment  in  the 
country  and  on  a  wider  basis.  Much  of  the  expense 
of  polo  was  accidental,  as  I  have  several  times  pointed 
out.  The  necessary  outlay  on  polo  is  not  very 
large,  and  hardly  out  of  the  reach  of  any  man  who 
can  aflFord  to  keep  horses  at  all.  The  immediate 
occasion  of  the  County  Polo  Association  was  the 
desirability  of  placing  the  County  Cup  on  a  firmer 
basis.  The  difficult  point  was  to  decide  what  should 
be  the  qualification  of  the  players.  On  the  one  hand, 
it    was    necessary    to    exclude    those    players    who, 


86  POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

although  they  might  be  members  of  a  club  near  to 
their  country  houses,  yet  were  too  strong  for  the 
average  county  team.  It  was  evident  that  only  a 
central  body  could  make  rules  and  regulations  in 
the  matter,  and  the  County  Polo  Association  was 
founded,  with  Mr.  Tresham  Gilbey  as  its  first 
president. 

Very  wisely  the  founders  decided  to  have  a 
committee  room  in  London.  They  fixed  on  the 
West  End  headquarters  of  the  P.  and  R.  P.  S.  at 
No.  12  Hanover  Square,  and  appointed  Mr.  A.  B. 
Charlton  as  Secretary.  This  step  decided  at  once 
the  success  of  the  Society.  It  was  plain  that  an 
Association  whose  affiliated  clubs  were  as  far  apart  as 
Edinburgh  and  Barnstaple  could  have  a  common 
headquarters  only  in  London.  The  stronger  of  the 
county  clubs  at  once  set  the  example  by  joining  the 
Association,  which  gave  to  each  club  a  voice  in  the 
election  of  the  Committee  of  Management  and  thus 
a  control  over  the  affairs  of  the  Association.  How 
well  the  Committee  have  fulfilled  their  trust  may  be 
seen  from  the  great  success  of  the  County  Cup 
contest  since  it  came  under  their  control.  The 
preliminary  ties  of  the  County  Cup  are  played  in  the 
four  divisions  Northern,  Midland,  South-Eastern, 
and  South- Western,  into  which  the  country  is  divided 
for  the  purposes  of  the  tournament.  The  semi- 
finals and  final  are  played  in  London,  and  I  have 
told  how  the  final  of  the  first  County  Cup  under  the 
new  rules  was  played  at  Eden  Park  while  Colonel 
Sanders  Darley  was  manager.     In  1899  the  County 


ITHE  GROWTH  OF  POLO  87 

Cup  was  restored  by  the  Committee  to  the  Hurling- 
ham  programme,  and  the  semi-finals  and  final  have 
been  played  there  ever  since. 

The  affiliated  clubs  include  all  the  leading  county 
clubs,  and  the  number  steadily  increases  as  new  clubs 
are  formed.  While  the  tournaments  are  arranged 
on  the  conditions  laid  down  by  the  County  Polo 
Association,  the  matches  have  always  been  played 
strictly  under  Hurlingham  rules.  The  Hurlingham 
Club,  when  in  1903  it  enlarged  its  Polo  Committee, 
and  gave  to  that  body  a  somewhat  more  representative 
character,  recognised  the  importance  of  the  County 
Polo  Association  by  inviting  three  representatives 
from  among  its  members  to  join  the  Polo  Committee. 
These  representatives  must  be  members  of  the 
Hurlingham  Club.  The  County  Polo  Association 
not  only  accepted  the  offer,  but  has  continually 
instructed  its  representatives  to  bring  matters 
affecting  the  welfare  of  county  polo  before  the 
central  Polo  Committee.  Thus  every  member  of  an 
affiliated  club  has  a  means  of  being  heard  if  he  has 
anything  of  value  to  communicate.  Several  valuable 
suggestions  have  been  made  with  regard  to  the 
measurement  of  ponies  in  this  way,  and  by  means  of 
the  County  Polo  Association  Hurlingham  is  kept  in 
touch  with  the  various  clubs  scattered  all  over  the 
country.  Some  of  these  are  very  large  and  powerful 
ones,  and  all  include  among  their  members  many 
players  who  are  never  seen  on  a  London  ground. 
Rugby  has  120  playing  members,  Leamington  over 
60,  the  Blackmore  Vale  more  than  30,  Liverpool  48, 


88  POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Cirencester  25,  and  there  are  many  others.  The 
probability  is  that  the  County  Polo  Association  now 
represents  a  majority  of  the  polo  players  of  England. 
This  will  increase  as  polo  gains  fresh  recruits  in  the 
country,  and  also  as  the  younger  men  settle  in  life 
and  giving  up  polo  in  London,  still  find  pleasure  in 
playing  at  their  county  club.  The  future  of  polo 
depends  on  the  county  clubs.  They  train  the  younger 
men  and  bring  out  the  new  ponies,  thus  causing  a 
flow  of  fresh  blood  into  the  game.  In  the  United 
Kingdom  there  are  sixty  clubs  :  sixteen  are  in  Ireland, 
one  in  Scotland,  and  forty-three  in  England.  Of 
these  thirty-six  may  be  considered  to  be  county  clubs, 
the  others  are  soldiers'  and  sailors'  clubs,  or  clubs 
like  Hurlingham,  Ranelagh,  Roehampton,  Crystal 
Palace,  which  could  not,  of  course,  be  reckoned 
among  county  clubs.  Allowing  an  average  of 
twenty  playing  members  to  each  club  (there  are  in 
reality  perhaps  rather  more)  this  gives  about  720 
players  as  being  represented  by  the  County  Polo 
Association  in  England  and  Scotland. 

From  English  county  polo  I  pass  to  polo  in 
Ireland.  The  All  Ireland  Polo  Club  is  the  oldest 
existing  club  in  the  United  Kingdom.  It  was 
founded  in  1874.  It  was  fortunate  enough  to  secure 
a  ground  on  that  part  of  the  Phoenix  Park  known  as 
the  Nine  Acres,  which  has  during  the  past  year  (1904) 
been  greatly  improved.  This  is,  next  to  the  match 
ground  at  Hurlingham,  the  most  famous  polo  ground 
in  the  world.  In  one  respect  it  even  surpasses 
Hurlingham,  for  while  both  clubs  have  had  almost 


THE  GROWTH  OF  POLO  89 

every  famous  player  and  pony  of  the  last  thirty  years 
playing  there,  the  polo  at  Phoenix  Park  has  been 
witnessed  by  many  more  people.  The  club  ground 
has  always  been  open  to  the  public,  and  has  ever  been 
a  great  attraction  to  the  sport-loving  Irish  people. 
The  matches  we  have  seen  on  the  Nine  Acres  will 
never  be  forgotten.  Moreover,  this  club  has  had 
more  influence  on  the  development  of  the  game  than 
any  other  except  Hurlingham.  Mr.  John  Watson, 
who  was  the  organiser  of  the  game,  was  the  leading 
member  of  the  All  Ireland  Polo  Club,  and  he  had  a 
chief  voice  in  the  original  Hurlingham  Club  Rules. 
Thus  Irish  polo  has  never  needed  to  draw  up  rules 
of  its  own,  for  the  influence  of  its  leading  players 
has  been  and  is  still  great  in  all  legislation  for  the 
game.  Indeed  polo  became  almost  from  its  intro- 
duction a  national  game  in  Ireland.  They  already 
had  in  Ireland  a  game  called  hurling,  which  is  one 
of  the  games  played  on  foot  that  is  a  direct  descend- 
ant of  polo.  Indeed  the  early  polo  in  Ireland  was 
called  hurling  on  horseback.  There  are  points 
about  hurling  that  mark  its  ancestry,  and  there  is  a 
use  of  the  shoulder  in  hustling  an  adversary  which 
will  recall  polo  to  any  onlooker.  When  polo  was 
introduced  into  Ireland  it  found  congenial  soil.  The 
Irish  players  soon  discovered  that  the  game  was  as 
well  adapted  for  Irish  ponies  as  it  certainly  was 
attractive  to  Irish  men.  English  players  found  that 
the  Irish  pony  is  the  best  for  polo  in  the  world. 
There  was  henceforth  a  market  for  a  class  of  horses 
which   had  hitherto  had   few  buyers.      Now,  Irish 


90  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

ponies  are  eagerly  sought  for  and  bought  up  for 
large  prices.  There  are  none  to  beat  them  when 
well  trained,  but  they  often  have  a  touch  of  wilful- 
ness and  waywardness,  just  as  young  Irish  hunters 
have. 

In  Ireland  the  county  clubs  have  flourished  and 
have  enabled  many  people  not  only  to  play  polo, 
but  to  make  their  fun  pay  its  way  by  selling  the 
ponies  they  have  trained.  What  successful  trainers 
the  Irish  polo  players  are,  may  be  easily  seen  by 
going  to  Ireland  and  watching  the  County  Cup  ties 
or  the  Novices'  Tournament,  both  of  which  cups 
are  ruled  by  Irish  County  Polo  Union  rules,  or  by 
seeing  the  ponies  that  are  brought  over  here  every 
year  by  Mr.  John  Watson  and  others.  It  is  but 
seldom  that  one  or  other  of  the  winners  at  the 
Hurlingham  pony  show  is  not  an  Irish-bred  pony. 

There  are  in  all  sixteen  Polo  Clubs  in  Ireland,  of 
which  twelve  are  aflSliated  to  the  Irish  County  Polo 
Union.  These  clubs  represent  about  300  players, 
exclusive  of  those  regimental  teams  which  are  to  be 
found  playing  in  Ireland  wherever  garrisons  are 
quartered.  Thus  Irish  polo  players  are  a  very  strong 
body  of  supporters  of  the  game,  both  in  quality 
and  quantity.  The  matches  of  the  County  Cup 
in  Ireland  are  the  truest  representatives  of  Irish  polo 
to  be  seen. 

Nor  do  the  playing  members  represent  the  whole 
strength  of  the  polo  interest  in  English  or  Irish 
county  polo  by  any  means.  Most  polo  clubs  in 
the   country   have  a  large   number  of  non-playing 


'^  THE  GROWTH  OF  POLO  91 

members.  These  are  made  up  of  players  whose  day- 
is  past,  of  lovers  of  sport,  and  of  those  people  who 
find  the  County  Polo  Club  a  very  pleasant  meeting- 
place  on  a  summer  afternoon.  Indeed,  many  clubs 
have  established  croquet  grounds  or  tennis  lawns,  and 
all  provide  tea  on  open  days.  Then  many  clubs  have 
an  annual  tournament,  a  pony  show,  a  gymkhana,  or 
a  polo  pony  race  meeting.  These  gatherings  are 
greatly  liked,  and  not  seldom  add  considerably  to  the 
income  of  the  club.  On  the  whole,  county  polo, 
wherever  it  has  been  established,  has  distinctly 
brightened  the  dulness  of  life  in  country  places. 

But  there  is  one  thought  that  the  multiplication 
of  clubs  brings  home  to  us.  We  need  some  regula- 
tion of  matches  by  the  Central  Committee.  If  at  any 
time  a  spirit  of  rivalry  or  jealousy  were  to  arise 
between  the  clubs,  we  might  see  on  the  one  hand  an 
undignified  attempt  to  provide  counter  attractions  on 
certain  days,  or  an  endeavour  to  prevent  the  best 
players  from  exhibiting  their  skill  on  the  opposition 
grounds.  It  is  only  necessary  to  suggest  the  possi- 
bility of  such  a  state  of  things,  to  make  it  plain  how 
bad  it  would  be  for  the  interests  of  the  game.  The 
remedy  lies  in  such  an  arrangement  of  the  matches 
of  the  season  as  would  prevent  undue  clashing  and 
unseemly  rivalry.  We  want  in  fact  something  of  the 
same  kind  as  is  done  by  other  governing  bodies  as  to 
the  arrangement  and  succession  of  cricket  matches 
and  race  meetings.  The  present  lists  of  matches  are 
sufficiently  large  to  suggest  that  there  is  a  possibility 
of  such  a  danger. 


92  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

The  London  polo  season  has  but  three  months. 
There  are  thus  only  twelve  Saturdays  available, 
even  if  they  are  all  fine.  Saturday  afternoon  is  the 
time  which  makes  or  mars  a  club.  People  come 
down  to  lunch  and  to  dinner,  they  bring  their 
friends,  and  the  gate-money  is  a  considerable  subsidy 
even  to  the  revenues  of  a  rich  club.  If  we  should 
have  more  clubs  there  moist  be  competition  for  the 
Saturday  crowd.  But  if  these  clubs  all  fix  on  the 
same  Saturday  for  a  Cup  Tournament  that  means  that 
many  first-class  players  are  in  demand,  and  every  polo 
manager  knows  how  difficult  it  would  be  to  divide 
out  our  leading  players  into  the  requisite  six  teams. 
Whereas,  if  the  order  of  matches  was  controlled 
and  to  a  certain  extent  mapped  out  before  the 
beginning  of  the  season  by  a  central  committee 
having  weight  and  authority,  each  club  would  be  able 
to  arrange  for  first-class  matches  that  should  provide 
exciting  and  instructive  contests  for  the  spectators. 
We  must  not  forget  that  polo  is  recruited  and 
popularised  by  these  first-class  contests  as  much  as  by 
anything  we  can  do  for  the  game.  If  a  man  sees  the 
pace,  order,  and  skill  of  high-class  polo  he  gains  an 
idea  of  the  game  such  as  inferior  players  could  never 
give  him.  Good  matches  are  much  more  intelligible 
and  instructive  than  inferior  ones,  and  they  set  a  high 
standard  for  ordinary  players.  The  multiplication  of 
tournaments  in  London  and  at  county  clubs  has  had 
the  effect  of  raising  the  standard  of  play  all  round, 
and  we  now  see  better  polo  on  many  a  county  ground 
than  any  but  the  best  players  could  have  shown  us  in 


I  t 


VNT 


Mr 


m'^  ^ 

^^^S  '"' 

THE  GROWTH  OF  POLO 


93 


London  a  few  years  ago.  The  interests  of  all  polo 
players  alike  seem  to  point  to  some  authoritative  and 
orderly  arrangement  of  the  season's  fixtures,  so  that  it 
might  be  possible  to  see  at  least  all  the  best  of  the 
polo.  But  it  is  of  course  plain  that  the  present 
Hurlingham  Polo  Committee  could  not  do  this,  and 
we  must  wait  for  the  day,  not  very  far  distant,  when 
the  progress  of  polo  obliges  us  to  have  an  All  England 
Polo  Association. 


CHAPTER  V 

REGIMENTAL    POLO 

All  that  could  be  said  or  written  on  behalf  of  polo 
in  the  Army  has  been  repeated  so  often  that  it  need 
not  be  insisted  on  here.  There  are  two  points  that 
if,  and  when,  they  are  thoroughly  understood  are 
likely  to  cause  the  authorities  and  the  public  to  look 
not  unfavourably  on  the  game  as  a  recreation  for 
soldiers.  Of  these  two  points  the  first  is  the  training 
in  horsemanship  and  horsemastership  that  the  game 
provides  when,  as  in  accordance  with  the  new  rules 
laid  down  for  army  polo,  regimental  teams  train  their 
own  ponies.  The  second  is  the  economy  of  time 
and  money.  Polo  is  a  game  which  occupies  compar- 
atively little  time,  and  can  be  played  in  garrisons  and 
camps.  There  is  less  temptation  for  an  officer  fond 
of  polo  and  anxious  for  the  success  of  his  regimental 

94 


!       REGIMENTAL  POLO  95 

team,  to  seek  to  be  absent  from  his  work,  than  any- 
other  recreation  holds  out. 

The  semi-finals  and  final  of  the  inter-regimental 
tournament  only  demand  a  short  leave  from  duty  to 
be  granted  to  four  teams,  i.e.  sixteen  men.  Such 
matches  as  the  Inter-Regimental,  the  Army  Cup, 
and  the  Subalterns*  Tournament  take  up  but  a 
few  days  at  a  time  and  occupy  only  the  pick  of  army 
polo  players.  If  we  may  judge  the  future  by  the 
past  these  men  will  also  be  among  the  best  working 
officers,  and  thus  precisely  those  to  whom  favours 
and  indulgences  would  be  most  readily  granted. 
When  I  claim  for  polo  that  it  is  not  for  soldiers  an 
expensive  game  I  shall  not  expect  to  escape  un- 
criticised.  Yet  facts  are  on  my  side,  and  unsupported 
assertions  and  fancies  are  on  the  other.  Polo  is 
certainly  less  expensive  than  many  other  amusements, 
and  the  fact  remains  that  officers  who  cannot  affiDrd 
to  hunt  can,  and  do  play  polo  without  spending  more 
than  they  can  spare  on  the  game.  The  idea  that 
polo  is  an  expensive  game  has  arisen  from  facts  and 
incidents  in  the  history  of  the  game  in  England, 
which  have  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  actual 
expenditure  of  any  individual  player  in  His  Majesty's 
service,  or  indeed  outside  it. 

In  the  first  place,  polo  is  identified  in  the  minds 
of  most  people  with  Hurlingham  and  Ranelagh. 
But  these  two  clubs  are  much  more  than  polo  clubs, 
they  are  social  clubs  of  a  high  class.  They  cater  for 
wealthy  people,  and  if  the  game  could  be  played  no- 
where else  it  would  by  that  fact  be  a  game  only  for 


96  POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

wealthy  men.  Nay,  we  may  go  further  and  acknow- 
ledge freely  that  it  was  in  its  early  days  confined  to 
people  of  means.  It  was  among  that  class  that  polo 
first  took  root,  and  it  was  a  long  time  before  the 
game  spread  sufficiently  to  enable  men  to  take  part 
in  it  with  only  a  moderate  expenditure  of  money. 
There  were  a  few,  very  few,  first-rate  ponies  bought 
at  high  prices.  These  animals  were,  with  some  ex- 
ceptions, worth  the  money  that  was  paid  for  them. 
But  the  price  of  the  choicest  animals  does  not  set  the 
standard  for  all  the  rest  of  their  class.  If  no  one 
hunted  who  could  not  give  say  450  guineas  apiece 
for  his  hunters,  or  no  one  drove  a  carriage  who  could 
not  aflFord  to  pay  1000  guineas  for  a  pair  of  horses, 
there  would  be  only  a  few  of  us  who  would  see 
hounds,  and  very  many  more  who  would  go  afoot 
than  do  so  now.  Even  these  famous  ponies  of  which 
so  much  has  been  written  were  not  expensive  at 
first.  "Matchbox"  was  bought  for  ;^35,  "Little 
Fairy  "  cost  about  the  same,  "  Early  Dawn  "  was  once 
sold  for  ;^70,  and  how  much  or  how  little  her  original 
owner  gave  for  her  I  should  not  like  to  guess,  and 
"  Sailor,"  of  which  I  have  written  above,  cost  £2^  ^^ 
the  first  instance,  and  many  more  examples  will  occur 
to  those  who  have  had  experience  of  polo. 

The  fact  is  that  the  raw  material  of  a  polo  pony 
before  he  or  she  has  been  trained  and  polished,  is 
worth  about  as  much  as  a  good-looking  ride-and- 
drive  pony  and  no  more.  Naturally  people  tell  us 
how  much  they  sell  ponies  for,  and  preserve  a 
judicious  silence  on  what  they  paid.     Again,  all  these 


REGIMENTAL  POLO  97 

high-priced  ponies  were,  or  were  believed  by  good 
judges  to  be,  extraordinary  animals,  and  part  at  least 
of  the  price  must  be  put  down  to  the  thorough 
training  and  sound  judgment  of  those  who  bought 
and  schooled  them.  The  same  is  true  of  horses  of 
all  kinds,  and  a  part  of  the  price  that  is  paid  is  given 
for  the  patience  and  skill  of  the  rider  or  coachman 
who,  having  good  material,  has  made  the  animals 
what  they  are. 

This,  then,  is  plain,  that  ponies  in  the  rough  need 
not  cost  more  than  a  very  moderate  purse  can  afford. 
The  training  of  them  is  a  task,  as  I  have  elsewhere 
tried  to  show,  not  beyond  the  powers  of  a  man  with 
the  gifts  and  tastes  of  a  horseman.  If  at  least  one 
such  man  be  not  found  in  each  of  our  cavalry  regi- 
ments it  would  be  a  matter  for  surprise.  I  shall  be 
reminded,  however,  that  facts  are  in  some  respects 
against  me,  and  a  few  instances  may  be  brought 
forward  in  which  a  regimental  team  has  purchased 
expensive  ponies  just  before  a  tournament.  In  one 
instance  at  least  this  was  done  by  a  wealthy  officer 
keen  for  his  regimental  team  to  win.  But  in  any 
case  I  am  not  concerned  to  defend  this,  for  the 
existing  rules  of  the  Army  Polo  Committee  should 
prevent  its  recurrence.  If  the  ponies  are  judiciously 
bought,  and  carefully  trained,  they  will  represent  at 
any  time  the  original  outlay,  and  allowing  for  break- 
downs and  failures,  a  considerable  percentage  on  the 
outlay. 

But    two  other  objections  will  be  raised.     You 
need,   it    may   be    said,    so    many  ponies   for   polo 

H 


98  POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

that  although  each  individual  pony  may  not  cost 
much,  yet  the  price  of  five  or  six  ponies  for  each 
man  will  mount  up  to  a  respectable  sum.  First, 
I  will  observe  that  the  number  of  ponies  required 
depends  on  two  things  —  their  quality  and  their 
condition.  Well-trained  ponies  in  hard  condition 
will  do  a  good  deal  of  work  at  polo.  We  find  in 
practice  that  in  first-class  matches  players  do  really 
use  very  few  ponies.  Two  ponies  in  practice  matches 
and  three  or  four  at  most  in  tournament  games  is 
enough.  Of  course  in  a  regimental  team  the  ponies 
would  be  supplied  by  the  club,  and  the  most  suit- 
able selected  for  tournaments.  It  would  make  for 
economy  if  all  matches  except  the  first-class  ones 
were  reduced  from  an  hour  to  forty  minutes,  and  if 
for  Army  polo  the  shorter  Indian  periods  were 
adopted.  Every  one  knows  how  wearisome  a  long- 
drawn-out  second-rate  game  at  polo  can  be.  There- 
fore nothing  would  be  lost  in  interest  by  the  change. 
I  have  seen  a  great  deal  of  soldiers'  polo  in  my  time, 
and  nothing  can  compete  with  it  for  interest.  A 
good  inter -regimental  match  will  draw  a  better 
"  gate  "  to  Hurlingham  or  Ranelagh  than  any  other 
attraction.  Something  of  the  same  kind  may  pos- 
sibly stimulate  play  in  a  Hunt  Cup  or  Public  School 
Cup  tournament,  but  the  Oxford  and  Cambridge 
and  the  Public  School  matches  have  failed  to  catch 
on  among  university  or  public-school  men  at  large. 
The  inter-regimental  tournament  is,  however,  like 
no  other,  not  only  the  players  and  their  contem- 
poraries, but  almost  every  man  who  has  served  in 


REGIMENTAL  POLO 


99 


one  or  other  of  the  competing  regiments  and  can 
attend,  being  certain  to  be  there,  as  much  interested  as 
if  he  himself  were  still  taking  his  turn  with  the  belt. 

The  inter-regimental  is  a  great  occasion  for  the 
meeting  of  old  friends  and  comrades,  and  is  worth 
preserving  if  only  for  this.  It  is,  moreover,  notable 
that  all  who  have  had  to  do  with  ruling  the  army, 
whatever  prepossessions  and  prejudices  they  may 
have  had  before  they  reach  a  position  of  authority, 
soon  come  to  look  favourably  on  polo.  The  game 
has  been  upheld  by  successive  Commanders-in- 
Chief  who  have  seen  that,  if  sometimes  it  needed 
control,  officers  were  willing  loyally  to  observe 
necessary  restraints.  Indeed,  many  believe  that 
both  in  England  and  India  the  game  is  the  more 
prosperous  for  due  control.  For  there  are  always 
some  men  who  will  go  to  extravagant  lengths  in 
any  pursuit,  and  encourage  weaker  brethren  to  do 
the  same.  But  for  one  man  who  has  been  led  away 
from  his  duty  by  polo,  there  are  hundreds  who  have 
succumbed  to  other  attractions  and  temptations, 
which  a  diversion  to  polo  might  have  counteracted. 

Let  us  consider  then  what  the  actual  career  of  a 
polo-playing  officer  is  like  when  drawn  from  life, 
and  not  described  by  the  vivid  imagination  of  writers 
whose  personal  knowledge  of  polo  or  of  the  officers 
who  play  it  is  small. 

The  imaginary  sketch  of  the  last-joined  trembling 
cornet  ordered  by  severe  senior  subalterns  to 
spend  his  last  sixpence  on  polo  ponies,  or  as  an 
alternative  to   undergo   much    mental   and  physical 


loo        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

torture,  is  absolutely  unknown.  The  process  by 
which  a  young  soldier  is  taught  to  play  polo  is  one 
that  is  familiar  to  every  university  man.  It  was,  and 
no  doubt  is  assumed  still,  that  every  man  would  be 
willing  to  do  something  for  the  honour  of  his  college. 
He  is  asked  in  a  friendly  way  to  put  his  name  down 
for  instruction  in  rowing,  and  to  attend  at  a  certain 
hour  at  the  college  barge.  The  Captain  of  the  Boat 
Club  takes  the  freshmen  out  in  turns  in  a  tub  pair, 
and  expends  a  good  deal  of  pains  in  teaching  them 
to  row.  If  the  pupil  is  promising  and  willing,  he  is 
made  to  feel  that  every  one  is  anxious  to  help  and 
to  encourage  him,  and  the  prospect  of  a  place  in  the 
Torpid  or  the  Eight  is  held  out  as  a  goal  for  his 
ambition.  This  generally  proves  sufficient  to  keep 
the  likely  ones  to  their  task,  while  the  physically 
unfit,  or  those  whose  tastes  lie  in  other  directions, 
are  weeded  out.  Not,  however,  as  a  rule  before 
they  have  received  some  very  useful  training  and 
discipline,  and  have  engrafted  in  them  a  zeal  for  the 
success  of  their  college  on  the  river. 

An  exactly  similar  process  goes  on  in  most 
regiments.  A  subaltern,  however  lately  joined,  who 
is  fit  to  be  a  soldier  at  all,  is  sure  to  be  enthusiastic 
for  the  credit  of  the  regiment,  not  only  in  the  field 
but  in  games  and  sports.  If  polo  is  a  tradition  in 
the  regiment,  and  the  mess  table  has  cups  and 
trophies  won  by  former  teams,  if  stories  are  told  of 
the  great  struggles  of  the  past,  the  last-joined  is  fired 
by  a  zeal  to  do  likewise.  Of  this  spirit  the  seniors 
are  glad  enough  to  take  advantage.     The  junior  is 


<  o 


REGIMENTAL  POLO  loi 

mounted  on  a  steady  pony,  fitted  out  with  a  polo  stick, 
and  set  to  practise  under  the  eye  of  one  of  the  best 
players  in  the  regiment.  With  what  kindly  patience 
the  youngster  is  encouraged,  advised,  and  restrained, 
those  who  know  most  of  soldiers'  polo  will  best  be 
able  to  tell.  The  chances  are  that,  if  he  is  anything 
of  a  horseman,  or  has  a  taste  for  riding,  if  he  has  had 
some  practice  at  cricket,  or  better  still  at  racquets, 
the  best  of  all  training  for  the  working  together  of 
hand  and  eye,  he  becomes  an  apt  pupil  at  polo.  In 
all  probability  he  will  with  difficulty  be  held  back 
from  buying,  at  extravagant  prices,  unsuitable  ponies. 
His  brother  officers  will  help  him  to  avoid  the  pit- 
falls which  horse-buying  brings  in  the  path  of  the 
eager,  generous,  and  unsuspecting  subaltern,  and  he 
will  be  fitted  out  with  one  or  two  good  ponies  from 
the  regimental  club,  the  price  of  which  is  to  be  paid 
oiF  by  moderate  instalments.  Indeed,  so  far  from 
the  purchase  of  polo  ponies  leading  to  extravagance, 
instances  have  been  not  infrequent  where  men  of 
moderate  means  have  undergone  considerable  and 
salutary  self-denial  in  the  matter  of  wine  and  cigars, 
and  even  of  short  leave,  in  order  to  pay  for  the  pony. 
Then  as  the  chances  of  polo  open  out  before  him,  it 
becomes  clear  to  any  sensible  lad  that  polo  is  a  game 
that  demands  condition  in  the  pony  and  fitness  in 
the  man. 

Thus  he  begins  to  look  after  the  stable  manage- 
ment of  his  ponies,  and  learns  by  practice  to  see  that 
each  horse  requires  special  attention  to  bring  him  to 
his  best.     Some  need  more  food  and  less  work,  and 


I02        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

others  more  exercise  and  less  food.  He  learns  to 
look  after  his  pony's  mouth  and  teeth,  to  see  to  the 
fit  of  the  saddle,  the  suitability  of  the  bit  and  bridle, 
to  attend  to  the  care  of  hoofs,  and  keep  an  eye  on  the 
blacksmith.  He  learns  how  to  treat  simple  ailments 
such  as  over-reaches,  bruises,  etc.,  and  is  in  fact  in  a 
fair  way  to  become  a  horse-master.  He  learns  too 
that  success  in  polo  depends  on  his  own  health  and 
condition,  and  therefore  begins  to  take  rational  care 
and  exercise  reasonable  self-denial.  So,  too,  he 
learns  to  keep  his  temper,  hold  his  tongue,  and  obey 
the  polo  captain.  Thus,  insensibly,  many  of  the 
qualities  and  acquirements  of  a  cavalry  soldier  are 
infused  into  him  while  he  is  amusing  himself 
Always  before  his  mind  is  the  possibility  of  being 
chosen  into  his  regimental  team.  Nor  will  his  being 
a  junior  prevent  that  if  he  be  fit  for  it.  He  will 
remember  how  J.  Le  Gallais  and  Maclaren  and 
Capel  Cure  and  many  other  notable  names  in  polo 
records,  found  themselves  playing  for  the  regiment 
almost  as  soon  as  they  had  joined.  If  he  is  the  son 
of  rich  parents  he  will  learn  self-restraint,  and  to  help 
others  ;  if  he  comes  of  people  of  moderate  means  he 
will  find  himself  helped  and  encouraged  in  every 
possible  way.  The  best  ponies  in  the  regiment  will 
be  willingly  placed  at  his  service,  and  if  he  is  the 
owner  of  a  good  pony  he  may  at  least,  if  not  quite 
up  to  tournament  form  himself,  obtain  and  enjoy  a 
vicarious  satisfaction  in  the  credit  done  to  the  regi- 
mental team  by  the  performances  of  his  pony. 

Nor  is  this  any  imaginary  picture,  for  I  know  well 


REGIMENTAL  POLO 


103 


a  good  sportsman  incapacitated  by  an  accident  from 
playing  in  anything  but  cantering  games,  who  draws 
the  keenest  satisfaction  out  of  the  spectacle  of  a 
certain  famous  pony  he  owns,  playing  in  a  first-class 
match  with  a  first-rate  player  to  ride  him  and  to  do 
him  justice. 

Regimental  polo  is  thus  in  peace-time  one  of  the 
finest  disciplines  to  the  individual,  and  one  more  bond 
between  an  oflicer  and  his  regiment. 

I  have  seen  in  my  time  some  very  notable 
regimental  teams,  —  the  13th  Hussars,  the  9th 
Lancers,  the  loth  Hussars,  the  Queen's  Bays,  the 
Durham  Light  Infantry,  the  Inniskillings,  and  the 
Royal  Horse  Guards.  There  are  of  course  many 
others,  but  these  will  suffice  us  as  examples  of 
regimental  polo,  and  I  propose  to  sketch  some  remin- 
iscences of  the  famous  matches  I  have  watched  these 
regiments  take  part  in. 

The  last-named  regiment  has  a  great  polo  record, 
and  although  they  have  never  yet  succeeded  in 
winning  the  Inter- Regimental,  twice  they  have  been 
very  near.  Their  polo  team  has  produced  some 
notable  players.  The  late  Captain  Rose,  as  good  at 
polo  as  he  was  over  the  Quorn  country,  with  the 
same  quiet  style  and  resolute  manner  in  both  sports, 
was  an  admirable  No.  3,  and  his  famous  pony 
"Yellowman"  was  one  of  the  few  first-rate  snaffle- 
bridle  ponies  I  have  known.  Then  there  was  the  late 
Captain  R.  Ward,  a  most  brilliant  horseman,  whose 
runs  on  "  Black  Bella,"  or  a  bay  blood-mare  he  had, 
made  our  blood  tingle  with  sympathetic  ecstasy  of 


I04        POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

pace.  There  were  few  No.  2  players  to  equal  him 
in  promise.  The  Duke  of  Roxburghe  was  an  excellent 
player,  who  has,  however,  left  the  service,  but  not  the 
game.  Captain  Marjoribanks  is  another  fine  player, 
whose  "Pilgrim"  is  one  of  the  handiest  weight-carrying 
ponies  I  have  known,  and  he  has  often  found  favour 
with  judges  at  the  leading  polo-pony  shows.  Major 
Drage,  who  played  back  in  the  Subalterns'  Tourna- 
ment when  the  regimental  team  won  in  1897  and 
1898,  is  a  sound  player.  This  player  has  also 
played  for  the  Pytchley  Hunt,  with  which  the  name 
of  his  family  is  connected.  He  used  to  be  very  fond 
of  "  Sunshine,"  the  grey  mare  that  Lord  Shrewsbury 
bought  from  Mr.  Buckmaster  and  sold  to  the  Royal 
Horse  Guards.  The  regiment  has  a  most  success- 
ful club,  and  a  magnificent  team  of  ponies,  the 
property  of  the  regimental  club.  They  owe  a  great 
deal  to  the  efforts  of  the  late  Major  Ferguson,  and  to 
Captain  Fitzgerald  (who  often  plays  No.  3  for  them) 
in  organising  and  promoting  polo  in  the  regiment. 

Their  winning  match  for  the  Subalterns'  Cup  in 
1897,  and  the  gallant  struggle  the  R.H.G.  made 
with  the  17th  Lancers  for  the  Inter-Regimental  in 
1903  and  1904,  are  matches  that  linger  in  one's 
mind.  1  think  perhaps  they  were  always  at  their 
best  in  public  on  the  Ranelagh  ground.  They  dearly 
love  a  galloping  game,  and  with  fast  ponies,  the  space 
and  liberty  of  that  famous  ground  gave  the  team 
their  best  chance.  But  perhaps  the  finest  soldiers' 
game  I  ever  saw,  which  was  said  afterwards  by  one 
of  the  most   experienced    polo   players   among  the 


g 

o 

O 

5 

5 
hi 


REGIMENTAL  POLO 


105 


senior  officers  of  that  day,  to  have  been  one  of  the 
closest  struggles  in  his  experience,  was  the  final  of 
the  Dublin  Inter-Regimental  of  8th  August  1895. 

I  shall  not  forget  the  occasion,  for  it  was  the  first 
time  I  was  entrusted  with  the  task  of  describing  an 
important  polo  tournament.  Indian  polo  was  familiar 
to  me,  and  Hurlingham  had  been  a  daily  duty  during 
the  season,  but  this  was  the  first  sight  of  an  Irish 
polo  ground. 

I  can  therefore  never  forget  the  scene  on  the  Nine 
Acres  in  Phoenix  Park.  It  was  my  introduction  to 
Irish  polo,  of  which  we  had  heard  much  in  India. 
Such  enthusiasm  for  polo  I  had  never  seen  before. 
The  crowd  at  the  Inter- Regimental  at  Hurlingham 
was  keen  and  interested,  but  it  was  apathetic  in 
comparison  with  the  popular  gathering  round  the 
Dublin  polo  ground.  Here  were  all  sorts  and 
conditions  of  Irishmen,  all  as  keen  and  enthusiastic 
as  possible,  from  the  ragged  urchins  who  sat  at  my 
feet  to  the  occupants  of  the  cars  and  carriages  round 
the  ring.  Every  player  was  known  and  each  of  them 
had  his  admirers.  Captain  (now  Colonel)  Malcolm 
Little  of  the  9th  Lancers  was  a  great  popular  favourite, 
and  a  more  dashing  forward  never  carried  a  polo 
stick.  I  well  remember,  as  he  dropped  on  to  the  ball 
near  the  rails  and  started  for  a  run  with  a  clear  course 
to  the  goal,  the  delighted  exclamation  of  a  little  capless 
ragged  fellow  who  was  crouched  at  my  feet :  "  Now, 
Litde,  by  the  Holy  Fey,  yeVe  got  your  welt ! ''  The 
match  of  which  I  am  writing  was  the  final  of  the 
Irish  Inter- Regimental,  and  was  the  more  interesting 


io6        POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

that  the  two  opponents,  the  13th  Hussars  and  9th 
Lancers,  had  already  met  in  the  final  of  the  All 
Ireland  Polo  Tournament. 

The  13th  Hussars  had  won  the  first  match  by  a 
single  goal.  Now  the  same  regiments  were  to  try 
conclusions  over  again  on  the  same  ground.  The 
teams  were  slightly  altered,  and  they  were  arranged 
as  follows  : — 

9th  Lancers.  1 3th  Hussars. 

Captain  M.  Litde  Captain  E.  N.  Pedder. 

Captain  Claude  Willoughby  Mr.  D.  Robertson  Aikman. 

Captain  G.  Colvin  Mr.  F.  Wise. 

Major  Lamont  (back)  Captain  Maclaren  (back). 

Captain  Little  took  the  place  at  No.  i  of  Mr. 
(now  Major)  D.  G.  M.  Campbell.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  Major  Campbell  afterwards  won 
the  Grand  National  on  "  The  Soarer "  for  another 
well-known  polo  player  of  those  days,  Mr.  W.  H. 
Walker.  The  9th  Lancers  played  Major  Lamont 
at  back. 

It  is  interesting  on  looking  back  to  note  the 
change  that  has  come  over  the  class  of  ponies  that 
played  then  and  now.  There  were  several  Arabs 
and  barbs  among  the  9th  Lancers*  ponies,  and, 
unless  my  memory  deceives  me.  Captain  (now 
Major)  Maclaren  was  riding  two  country-bred 
ponies  he  brought  from  India.  This  was  before 
the  days  of  the  14.2  rule,  but  the  ponies  were  if  any- 
thing smaller  than  would  be  seen  in  a  match  of  equal 
importance  nowadays.     I  am  not  going  to  inflict  on 


REGIMENTAL  POLO  107 

my  readers  the  details  of  another  match  that  was  played 
many  years  ago,  but  I  remember  the  keen  excite- 
ment and  the  breathless  tension  with  which  the  crowd 
followed  a  game  every  moment  of  which  was  full  of 
pace  and  excitement.  There  were  some  wonderful 
strokes  :  for  example,  when  Captain  Maclaren,  unable 
to  escape  from  the  forwards,  hit  the  ball  across  the 
ground,  darted  after  it  and  brought  it  back  to  the 
centre  by  a  fine  stroke  across  the  pony's  forelegs, 
then  straightened  it  with  a  neat  turn  of  the  wrist 
and  raced  for  the  goal.  The  9th  were  probably  the 
stronger  team,  and  possibly  better  mounted,  but 
the  combination  of  the  13  th  made  them  fully  equal 
to  their  adversaries.  The  9th  Lancers  won  by  a 
single  goal  made  by  Captain  Willoughby,  after  the 
score  had  been  marked  as  three  goals  all. 

The  season  1 893-94  was  a  golden  era  in  England  for 
polo  in  the  Army,  and  there  was  probably  very  little 
to  choose  between  the  loth  Hussars,  9th  Lancers, 
and  the  13th  Hussars.  The  loth  Hussars  have 
always  been  noted  for  their  devotion  to  the  game  and 
their  skill  in  it.  The  late  Lords  Airlie  and  William 
Bentinck,  Lord  George  Scott,  Colonel  Kavanagh,  and 
Major  Brand  were  among  the  men  I  can  recollect  as 
the  finest  regimental  players.  They  were  in  the  first 
rank  of  polo  players  of  the  day.  I  can  recall  a 
notable  feat  of  Lord  George  Scott's.  He  was  riding 
a  barb  or  Arab  named  "  Abdullah."  The  pony  was  a 
plain-looking  grey,  but  with  far  greater  speed  than 
he  appeared  to  have.  It  is  sometimes  said  that  Arabs 
cannot  hold  their  own  with  English  ponies  for  pace,  but 


io8        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

"  Abdullah ' '  was  seldom  beaten  for  speed.  Lord  George 
was  racing  on  the  ball  with  the  goal  not  far  ahead. 
(It  was  at  Hurlingham,  and  the  ground  was  somewhat 
cut  up  after  several  days  of  tremendous  struggles  in 
the  Inter-Regimental  Cup  of  1894.)  The  ball  began 
to  bump,  and  twice  Lord  George  Scott  hit  it  with  the 
cane  of  his  mallet,  sending  it  through  the  posts  with 
the  third  stroke. 

In  1888  I  was  at  Sialkot,  which  was  in  that  year 
a  most  interesting  station  from  a  polo  player's  point 
of  view.  We  had  two  cavalry  regiments  stationed 
there,  the  Queen's  Bays  and  the  14th  Bengal  Lancers, 
and  there  were  two  or  three  polo  grounds.  It  was 
most  interesting  to  watch  the  two  teams,  the  Queen's 
Bays  and  the  14th  Bengal  Lancers,  practically  training 
each  other  in  a  number  of  friendly  matches,  and  when 
in  1892  these  teams  won  the  Inter-Regimental  and  the 
Native  Cavalry  Cup  respectively  in  the  same  year, 
there  was  great  rejoicing  in  the  station.  The  General 
of  the  Division  was  Sir  Thomas  Baker,  who  would 
have  been  Commander-in-chief  in  India  had  he  lived, 
and  the  Brigadier  the  late  Sir  Power  Palmer,  who 
afterwards  succeeded  General  Lockhart  at  Simla. 
Those  who  remember  these  distinguished  officers  will 
readily  imagine  that  while  the  soldiering  was  of  the 
best,  sports  were  not  discouraged,  and  polo  least  of  all. 
The  Queen's  Bays  had  a  brilliant  team :  Major  Persse, 
now  commanding  the  Egyptian  Cavalry,  was  No.  i  ; 
Major  Whitla,  now  3rd  Hussars,  No.  2  ;  Captain 
Bushe,  No.  3  ;  and  Major  Kirk,  now  2nd  in  command 
of  the  regiment,  was  the  back.    All  were  fine  players, 


REGIMENTAL  POLO  109 

and  they  took  immense  pains  to  mount  themselves 
well.  They  practised  steadily,  were  a  very  fast  and 
brilliant  team,  and  for  a  time  quite  invincible  among 
British  regiments. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  games  at  polo  I  saw 
the  Bays  play  was  in  the  final  of  the  Punjab  Tourna- 
ment, the  last  time  it  was  won  by  the  12th  Bengal 
Cavalry.  This  was  one  of  the  very  best  polo  teams 
that  ever  rode  on  to  a  ground.  It  was  made  up  of 
three  natives — all  three,  I  think,  non-commissioned 
officers  in  the  Queen's  service — and  Captain  Charles 
Gough.  The  three  natives,  Pretum  Singh,  Gurdit 
Singh,  and  Hira  Singh,  afterwards  joined  the  Patiala 
team,  becoming  generals  and  colonels  in  the 
Maharajah's  army.  The  late  Maharajah  of  Patiala 
was  an  enthusiastic  sportsman  and  loved  pigsticking, 
polo,  and  billiards,  and  he  mounted  the  three  famous 
polo  players  on  the  best  ponies  money  could  buy. 
But  I  do  not  think  the  Patiala  team  at  its  best 
was  ever  equal  to  the  12  th  Bengal  Cavalry  four. 
Prosperity  does  not  altogether  agree  with  Sikhs,  and 
the  duffedars  were  certainly  better  players  than  the 
Colonels  and  Generals.  I  am  not  sure  that  I  have 
ever  seen  a  polo  team  in  England  or  India  that 
could  have  beaten  the  12  th  Bengal  Cavalry  men  at 
their  best.  They  were  admirable  horsemen  of  the 
Asiatic  type,  they  could  hit  the  ball  near  side  or  off 
side  with  equal  ease.  Never  have  I  seen  anything 
like  their  control  of  the  ball.  Mr.  L.  Waterbury, 
Mr.  W.  Buckmaster,  and  Mr.  A.  R.  Rawlinson  come 
nearer  to  this  than  any  other  players  of  our  time, 


no        POLO:   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

but  I  do  not  think  any  one  of  the  three  is  the  equal 
of  Hira  Singh.  One  peculiarity  of  this  player  was 
that  you  could  not  ride  him  off.  He  always  either 
evaded  you  or  hit  the  ball  in  spite  of  your  best  efforts. 
Major  H.  P.  Sykes,  a  dashing  heavy-weight  who 
rode  fast  ponies,  came  the  nearest  to  success.  He 
swooped  down  on  poor  Hira  and  by  weight  of  man 
and  horse  fairly  pushed  him  off  the  ground. 

But  though  the  Bays  could  not  win,  they  made  a 
splendid  game  of  it,  and  it  was,  I  think,  this  match 
that  inspired  the  Maharajah  of  Patiala  with  the  idea 
of  forming  and  training  the  team  that  was  invincible 
for  so  long.  The  Patiala  team  were  never  defeated 
by  English  players  until  the  i8th  Hussars  succeeded 
in  doing  so.  But  I  think  that  time,  and  perhaps 
good  living,  had  somewhat  impaired  the  condition  of 
the  Maharajah's  famous  four. 

Of  the  teams  I  can  recollect,  none  was  more 
notable  than  that  of  the  Durham  Light  Infantry. 
Patiala  spent  money  without  stint.  The  Queen's 
Bays,  though  never  extravagant,  bought  some  made 
ponies  at  fair  prices.  A  well-managed  and  liberally 
supported  regimental  club  enabled  them  to  do  so,  and 
the  judgment  displayed  was  so  sound  that  at  their 
final  sale  the  regimental  polo  club  received  about 
Rs.  1 8,000.  Yet  a  cavalry  regiment  has  advantages 
and  opportunities  for  polo  that  no  infantry  can  hope  to 
enjoy.  The  Durham  Light  Infantry  polo  team  were 
remarkable  not  only  for  their  success,  but  also  for  the 
methods  by  which  it  was  obtained,  and  for  the  com- 
paratively small  expenditure  they  incurred.     It  was 


REGIMENTAL  POLO  iii 

generally  recognised  in  India  that  Colonel  De  Lisle 
— now  of  the  Royal  Dragoons — was  the  directing 
mind  and  the  moving  spirit.  It  is  clear  that  he  found 
exercise  and  outlet,  and  1  think  it  might  be  said 
training,  for  the  abilities  which  he  displayed  as  a 
leader  in  the  Boer  War,  in  forming  the  regimental 
polo  team.  The  system  was  a  stern  one,  the  whole 
life  of  the  regiment  turned  on  the  success  of  the  polo 
team,  other  expenditure  was  discouraged,  and  even 
pig-sticking  and  steeple-chasing  were  regarded  with 
disfavour  lest  they  should  disable  by  casualties  men 
wanted  to  take  a  place  in  the  polo  team. 

The  training  of  the  team  was  taken  as  seriously 
as  that  of  a  university  crew.  The  men  and  ponies 
were  kept  in  hard  condition,  early  hours  and  careful 
living  were  enforced.  Every  man  and  every  pony 
was  fitted  to  his  place  in  the  team,  and  the  combination 
of  the  four  men  was  such  as  we  have  seen  but  seldom 
at  polo.  The  13th  Hussars,  the  12th  Bengal  Cavalry, 
and  the  Rugby  team  only  among  polo  players  have 
ever  worked  with  such  unity.  But  of  them  all  in  the 
matter  of  combination  the  Durham  Light  Infantry 
were  the  best.  There  was  no  passenger  in  the  boat, 
and  every  man  was  always  at  work  and  with  a  single 
eye  to  team-play.  They  were  the  Ironsides  among 
polo  teams.  Sometimes  it  was  whispered  that  the 
rigidity  of  the  rule  irked  some  of  them,  but  they 
obeyed,  and  the  result  was  marvellous  and  such  as  no 
other  team  with  equal  or  greater  resources  has  ever 
achieved. 

I  do  not  deny  that  they  were  fine  players  Individ- 


112        POLO:   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

ually,  but  this  system  made  the. best  of  them  and 
made  the  best  also  of  their  ponies.  It  tried  the 
ponies  as  well  as  the  men,  and  I  believe  that  about 
three  or  four  seasons  was  the  average  time  that  a  polo 
pony  remained  up  to  their  standard.  The  ponies, 
like  the  men,  had  to  obey  and  be  easy  to  handle,  and 
mere  speed  was  not  regarded  as  any  substitute  for  the 
power  to  turn,  willingness  to  stop,  readiness  to  start, 
that  mean  so  much  at  polo.  It  is  not  likely  that  we 
shall  soon  again  see  a  team  which  combines  such 
perfection  with  fitness  of  condition.  Yet  the  main 
principles  of  the  Durham  Light  Infantry  training 
must  always  be  those  which  lead  to  success.  One 
thing,  however,  readers  must  bear  in  mind, — that  their 
victories  were  won  under  the  Indian  system  of  brief 
periods  (five  minutes)  and  short  matches  (forty 
minutes),  which  permits  a  closer  concentration  and  a 
severer  strain  than  our  longer  periods. 

There  are,  of  course,  many  other  notable  teams  and 
incidents  in  the  story  of  Army  polo.  There  are,  for 
example,  the  7th  Hussars,  who  have  been  on  the 
whole  the  most  successful  in  winning  tournaments. 
This  regiment  supplied  three  out  of  the  four  players 
who  went  to  America  for  the  first  international  match. 
They  have  won  the  Inter-Regimental  Cup  both  in 
England  and  India  —  the  former  five  times,  the 
latter  twice.  They  are  the  only  regiment  that  ever 
won  three  cups  in  their  first  season  in  England  or 
India.  They  have  produced  many  notable  players, 
including  Major  Poore,  who  would  be  a  great  polo 
player  if  he  were  not  so  distinguished  a  cricketer  and 


REGIMENTAL  POLO  113 

so  keen  a  soldier.  His  great  feat  of  hitting  the  win- 
ning stroke  in  the  final  tie  of  the  Inter-Regimental 
Cup  for  the  7th  Hussars  at  Hurlingham,  and  making 
a  hundred  runs  for  Hampshire  at  County  Cricket 
during  the  same  week  in  1899,  is  not  likely  soon  to 
be  either  surpassed  or  forgotten. 

I  do  not  propose  here  to  go  over  again  the  old 
but  never-to-be-forgotten  story  of  the  way  in  which 
polo  players  won  distinction  in  the  Boer  War.     But 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  unquestioned  facts 
have  made  a  due  impression  on  those  who  have  to 
rule  the  Army.     The  Army  Polo   Committee  has 
been  formed  in  order  that  polo  may  be  restrained, 
controlled,  and  encouraged.     Sir  Edward  Ward,  the 
Secretary  of  the  new  Army  Committee,  joined  the 
Committee  of  the  Ranelagh  Club  in  1 904.     At  the 
same  time  no  doubt  there  will  be  a  real  control  of 
expenditure  in  this  as  in  other  matters.     While  the 
Army  Polo  Committee  serves  as  a  link  between  the 
authorities  and  the  great  body  of  soldier  players,  the 
regimental  polo  pony  clubs  seem  to  offer  an  oppor- 
tunity for  control  of  the  share  taken  by  individual 
members.     The  usual  system  of  a  regimental  club 
at  present  is  as  follows  : — Every  member  pays  los. 
a  month  as  subscription,  and  if  he  desires  a  pony 
;^io  a  year  as  hire.     The  club  borrows  a  sum  of 
;^iooo,  and  the  interest  and  instalments  are  paid  off 
out  of  the  income  arising  from  the  hire  of  the  ponies 
and  the  subscriptions  of  the  members.     In  practice 
this  has  been  found  to  work  well.     For  example, 
one  regiment  borrowed  ;^900.     In  the  course  of  a 


114        POLO:   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

few  years  they  found  themselves  clear  of  debt, 
with  an  income  of  £1^0  wherewith  to  purchase 
remounts.  After  several  successful  polo  seasons  the 
regiment  was  transferred  to  India.  The  sale  of  the 
ponies  realised  ;^i2oo,  leaving  thus  an  ample  sum  in 
hand  to  purchase  ponies  in  India. 

It  seems  to  me  that  it  would  be  wise  to  give 
these  clubs  official  recognition  and  some  control.  The 
accounts  might  be  open  to  the  Inspector-General  of 
Cavalry,  and  the  Colonel  would  be  responsible  that  the 
subscription  was  voluntary.  The  management  of  the 
club,  the  inspection  of  the  ponies,  and  the  buying  of 
new  ones  are  entrusted  to  a  committee,  and  this  work 
is  no  bad  training  for  a  cavalry  soldier.  No  regiment 
that  had  not  a  recognised  and  approved  club  in  full 
and  satisfactory  working  order  should  be  permitted  to 
send  a  team  to  the  Alder  shot  Cup,  the  Inter-Regi- 
mental, or  the  Subalterns'  Tournament.  A  further 
step  might  well  be  taken.  The  Government  might 
lend  a  certain  number  of  14.2  ponies  to  the  poorer 
clubs,  receiving  the  £10  for  hire,  and  retaining  certain 
rights  over  them.  A  good  polo  pony,  well  trained,  is 
already  nearly  a  perfect  mounted  infantry  cob.  Thus 
a  large  reserve  of  high-class  cobs  would  be  in  readi- 
ness for  war  time.  Without  expense  a  couple  of 
thousand  ponies  might  easily  be  distributed  if  the 
yeomanry  were  included  in  the  grant.  The  ponies 
would  have  to  be  selected  by  some  one  who  knew 
what  a  polo  pony  was  and  ought  to  be.  If,  as  I  have 
sometimes  heard  it  said  by  experts,  in  the  next  war 
we  shall  need  at  least   10,000  ponies  for  mounted 


REGIMENTAL  POLO 


115 


infantry,  then  it  is  evident  there  ought  to  be  a  reserve 
somewhere.  Polo  offers  the  opportunity,  the  ponies 
would  be  kept  for  nothing,  and  the  money  paid  for 
their  hire  would  probably  cover  the  outlay  of  their 
purchase.  In  addition  a  very  much  better  class  of 
pony  would  be  obtained  than  most  of  those  now 
in  the  army.  A  really  good  polo  pony  is  easy  to 
ride,  and  that  is  no  small  consideration  in  the  case 
of  men  who  are  not  (as  mounted  infantry  cannot  be) 
professional  horse  soldiers. 

There  is  no  such  cob  in  the  world  as  our  English 
riding  ponies,  and  no  such  schooling  as  polo  gives 
them.  The  risk  would  be  very  small,  for  very  few 
polo  ponies  break  down,  and  the  majority  last  in  full 
vigour  for  many  years.  The  casualties  among  polo 
ponies  are  far  less  than  among  any  other  class  of 
horse  with  which  I  am  acquainted,  and  to  this  I  think 
all  who  have  had  experience  will  agree. 

But  to  return  for  a  moment  to  the  regimental 
polo  clubs.  They  are  practically  co-operative  societies 
for  the  benefit  of  officers.  The  question  still  remains 
as  to  who  is  the  right  person  to  buy  the  ponies. 
This  may  be  done  in  two  ways.  The  first  and  most 
obvious  is  to  appoint  one  man  of  polo  experience 
and  proved  judgment  to  buy  all  the  ponies.  But 
there  is  this  objection  to  such  a  plan,  which  was 
put  forward  by  General  Rimington  in  an  excellent 
article  on  the  subject  contributed  to  B ally's  Magazine 
in  March  1897, — "It  does  away  with  individual 
effort."  Such  a  plan  would  work  fairly  well  if  the 
regimental  ponies  were  to  be  all  trained  ones.     But 


ii6        POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

they  are  not,  and  if  good  ponies  are  to  be  bought 
for  moderate  prices  the  ponies  must  be  untrained. 
Officers  should  be  encouraged  to  look  out  for  ponies 
likely  to  make  polo  ponies.  Incidentally  they  will 
learn  a  great  deal  in  doing  so  about  the  sources  and 
extent  of  our  horse  supply.  Each  officer  should  be 
instructed  to  find  out  all  the  available  ponies  round 
his  own  home.  A  maximum  price  should  be  fixed 
and  paid  by  the  club.  The  training  of  the  pony 
should  be  entrusted  to  the  man  who  bought  it.  If, 
when  trained,  it  was  passed  into  the  club  by  the 
Committee,  the  officer  would  have  nothing  to  pay 
beyond  his  subscription  to  the  club.  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  pony  was  rejected,  it  would  be  sold, 
and  the  purchaser  would  be  liable  for  the  difference 
between  the  selling  price  and  what  he  had  given  for 
it.  This  would  probably  not  be  great  in  any  case. 
Naturally,  such  a  rule  would  make  men  careful,  and 
there  would  be  considerable  emulation  as  to  who 
should  buy  the  best  pony.  If  an  officer  bought  for 
himself  he  would  still  be  obliged  to  have  the  pony 
passed  by  the  club  before  it  was  allowed  to  play  in 
the  regimental  game. 

By  some  such  plan  as  this  the  utmost  benefit 
would  be  obtained  from  regimental  polo,  and  we 
might  hope  to  see  it  stand  as  high  as  it  ought  to  do 
in  the  favour  of  all  sensible  men. 


■  E 


CHAPTER   VI 

THE    TRAINING    OF    THE    PONY 

The  subject  of  this  chapter  is  one  of  increasing 
importance.  Every  year  well-schooled  ponies  become 
more  necessary  to  modern  polo.  Speed  is  much,  but 
handiness  is  more.  It  may  be  questioned  whether  a 
team  on  well-schooled  ponies  would  not  in  the  long 
run  beat  one  mounted  on  more  speedy  but  less 
easily  controllable  animals.  But  handiness  is  not 
entirely  a  matter  of  well-schooled  ponies  ;  it  depends, 
more  perhaps  than  is  usually  admitted,  on  the  horse- 
manship of  the  rider.  Now  the  best  school  of  prac- 
tical horsemanship  is  the  breaking  of  young  horses. 
It  was  not  only  motives  of  economy  which  made 
the  Army  Polo  Committee  lay  down  the  rule  that 
regiments  were,  as  far  as  possible,  to  train  their  own 
ponies,  but  because  the  lessons  of  horsemanship  and 

117 


ii8        POLO:   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

horse-mastership  taught  by  polo  are  only  to  be  learned 
by  the  man  who  trains  and  makes  his  own  ponies 
from  first  to  last.  The  great  argument  for  polo  in  the 
army  is  its  value  in  this  respect,  and  if  men  are  to 
buy  ready-made  ponies  the  ground  is  cut  away  from 
under  the  feet  of  its  defenders. 

Nor  is  there  anything  new  in  this.  The  men  who* 
made  polo  what  it  is  schooled  their  own  ponies,  for  in 
the  early  days  of  polo  there  was  no  other  way  of  gather- 
ing a  stableful  of  ponies  than  by  purchasing  them  in 
the  rough  and  training  them  to  the  game  yourself  It 
was  in  this  way  that  most  of  the  early  players  obtained 
the  famous  ponies  of  which  we  have  heard.  It  has 
already  been  related  that  the  Messrs.  Peat  bought 
and  trained  their  famous  stable  of  ponies.  Lord 
Harrington,  Mr.  T.  Kennedy,  and  Mr.  Kenyon  Stow 
gave  much  time  and  thought  to  schooling  the  ponies 
by  the  aid  of  which  they  helped  to  win  so  many 
matches.  Regimental  teams  in  India  trained  their 
own  ponies,  which  were  bought  in  the  rough  at  Indian 
fairs  and  from  dealers  at  Lahore  or  Bombay.  In 
India  the  majority  of  players  trained  their  own  ponies, 
and  probably  do  so  still. 

The  present  chapter,  then,  is  intended  to  suggest 
that  what  has  been  done  by  others  can  be  done  by 
ourselves.  Indeed,  if  a  man  of  moderate  means  is  to 
play  polo  at  all  he  must  school  his  own  ponies.  It 
has  already  been  laid  down  authoritatively  that,  if  polo 
is  to  continue  to  flourish  in  the  Army,  and  to  grow 
under  the  sunshine  of  official  smiles,  then  officers 
must  learn  to  make  ponies  into  polo  form. 


THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  PONY 


119 


But,  be  that  as  it  may,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the 
majority  of  would-be  players  will  be  likely  to  read 
this  chapter  with  some  interest.  It  is  quite  possible 
that  this  work  may  fall  into  the  hands  of  some  man 
who  has  seen  polo  and  felt  its  charm.  No  one  who 
loves  riding  can  look  on  at  a  really  fine  match  with- 
out desiring  to  join  in  the  game.  The  pace,  the 
keen  struggle  for  the  ball,  nay,  the  eager  rapt 
expression  on  the  faces  of  the  players,  speak  for  polo 
to  many  a  man  who  has  given  up  such  games 
as  cricket  and  football.  The  one  difficulty  is  to 
buy  the  ponies.  I  do  not  mean  that  there  is  much 
difficulty  in  finding  a  pony,  but  when  we  have  him 
he  is  not  a  polo  pony.  The  prices  of  the  leading 
dealers  are  out  of  our  reach.  We  cannot  affiDrd  to 
fit  ourselves  out  at  Rugby,  with  three  ponies  at  a  cost 
of  anything  from  £s^^  ^^  ;£iooo  for  the  three.  No 
doubt  we  shall  obtain  what  we  pay  for.  But  we  can 
hardly  expect  to  have  the  skill  and  judgment  and  time 
of  the  Messrs.  Miller,  or  Withers,  or  Rich,  for  nothing. 
Nor  do  I  say  that  it  is  not  worth  paying  for.  On 
the  contrary,  if  a  man  has  money  and  not  too  much 
time,  he  cannot  do  better  than  buy  from  those  who 
know  what  a  polo  pony  ought  to  be.  Yet  I  think 
perhaps  there  is  more  pleasure  and  satisfaction  in 
finding  and  making  our  own  ponies  than  in  obtaining 
them  ready  made.  If  we  are  successful  none  will 
ever  suit  us  as  well. 

I  have  seen  it  written  and  heard  it  said  that  it  is 
a  very  difficult  thing  to  make  a  pony  into  a  good  polo 
pony.     There  is  a  difficulty,  which  is  to  find  the  raw 


I20        POLO:   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

material.  Horseflesh  of  high  quality  is  never  very- 
easy  to  buy,  but  it  can  be  found,  as  every  one  knows 
who  has  tried.  We  have  most  of  us  had  good  hacks 
and  hunters  and  harness  horses,  and  there  are  still 
good  ponies  to  be  found.  They  are  all  round  us  if 
we  have  eyes  to  see.  Not  polo  ponies  yet,  but 
animals  that  can  be  made  into  polo  ponies.  Some 
men,  however,  may  be  discouraged  by  the  obstacles. 
"  We  are,"  they  will  say,  "  fair  judges  of  a  horse, 
but  we  are  not  first-rate  polo  players,  or  anything 
like  it,  and  therefore  even  if  we  have  the  pony  we 
cannot  do  anything  with  him."  There  is  no  greater 
mistake.  It  is  not  necessary  to  be  a  player  of  skill 
in  order  to  make  a  polo  pony.  Certain  things  are 
necessary,  but  it  is  not  needful  to  be  able  to  play  in 
first-class  company.  Some  excellent  pony  trainers 
that  I  have  known  were  very  indifferent  performers 
in  the  game.  What  is  required  is  fair  horsemanship, 
great  patience,  much  perseverance,  and  a  most  careful 
attention  to  details.  Most  ponies  that  have  anything 
like  true  make  and  shape  will  make  polo  ponies  if 
they  are  treated  in  the  right  way. 

When  buying  a  pony  we  must  note  certain  defects 
that  cannot  be  passed  over.  It  is  true  that  some  odd- 
shaped  ponies  have  turned  out  well,  but  the  chances 
are  against  this,  and  our  would-be  polo  player  does 
not  profess  to  have  such  skill  at  the  game,  such 
mastery  over  the  ball,  that  he  can  rectify  the  failings 
of  his  mount.  I  am  sure  from  the  ponies  I  see 
exercising  in  the  roads  in  the  spring,  that  there  are  a 
great  many  men  wasting  their  time  and  trouble  over 


THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  PONY     121 

animals  that  will  never  really  do  them  credit.  At 
the  same  time,  you  must  take  the  descriptions  you 
read  in  books  with  a  grain  of  salt.  The  animals 
there  painted  in  glowing  words  are  not  likely  to 
come  your  way.  To  quote  from  the  experience  of  a 
player  who  is  playing  regularly  in  first-class  polo: 
"  By  buying  ponies  which  I  think  are  really  right 
for  polo,  I  have  never  had  a  single  failure.  All 
have  played  well  in  first-class  polo,  though,  naturally, 
all  have  not  been  perfect  in  shape,  and  consequently 
all  have  not  been  equally  valuable.  Some  have  not 
withstood  the  strain  so  well  as  others  ;  some  are  up 
to  less  weight  ;  but  all  have  played  well  in  first-class 
polo,  which  is  a  very  high  test  when  we  consider  that 
they  were  often  pitted  against  ponies  costing  ;^500." 
The  first  thing  to  consider  about  a  pony  that  is 
offered  is,  supposing  this  was  a  horse  would  I  buy 
him  to  hunt  on  ?  does  he  look  like  galloping  ^ 
Weedy,  ill-coupled  ponies  should  be  avoided,  so 
should  ponies  with  short  thick  necks,  or  those  that 
carry  their  chins  against  their  chests.  Short  straight 
pasterns  are  serious  defects  ;  long  sloping  pasterns, 
on  the  other  hand,  even  if  they  look  a  little  too  long 
and  a  trifle  weak,  need  not  put  us  off.  A  polo  pony 
is  better  short  in  the  back,  but  I  have  known  some 
ponies  that  looked  a  little  long  do  very  well,  and  you 
cannot  have  everything.  A  good-tempered,  sensible 
head,  properly  carried,  and  a  well-placed  neck  would 
at  any  time  go  a  long  way  with  me.  Since  perfection 
is  not  to  be  obtained,  one  point  must  balance  another. 
Nor  is  it  advisable  to  be  entirely  guided  by  the  eye. 


122        POLO:   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

If  you  are  not  quite  pleased  with  the  pony's  shoulders 
never  mind,  but  jump  on  to  its  back  and  see  how  it 
uses  them  when  trotting  down  a  rough  slope  with  a 
loose  rein,  and  note  how  it  places  its  feet,  and  whether 
it  goes  boldly  without  tripping  or  stumbling.  There 
is,  of  course,  no  perfection  that  you  would  not  desire  ; 
there  are  also  few  you  cannot  do  without.  If  a  pony 
walks  well  and  trots  easily  you  may  take  a  good 
deal  on  trust,  and  you  may  be  pretty  sure  that  you 
will  have  to  forgive  something,  or  at  least  to  try  to 
forget  it. 

It  may  well  be  that  in  buying  ponies  in  the  rough 
you  may  not  be  able  to  have  much  of  a  trial.  If  you 
want  to  pick  up  ponies  cheap  you  must  be  prepared 
to  buy  them  when  you  see  them,  and  as  you  can. 
The  less  trial  you  are  able  to  have  the  better-looking 
ought  the  pony  to  be.  It  is,  of  course,  quite  true  that 
we  have  all  owned  ponies  and  horses  that  we  should 
never  have  purchased  unless  we  had  been  on  their 
backs.  They  win  us  by  their  action,  their  lightness 
in  hand,  the  spring  of  their  movement,  and  we  know 
then,  if  no  obvious  or  fatal  defect  is  visible,  that 
the  eye  is  deceived.  Yet  I  should  never  buy  a  pony 
for  polo  that  did  not  carry  its  saddle  fairly  well,  or 
that  had,  as  I  have  said  above,  a  thick  short  neck. 
Last  of  all,  I  should  never  buy  one  that  showed 
temper  or  sulkiness.  It  matters  very  little  to  you 
whether  these  faults  are  natural  or  acquired  by  bad 
usage.  Eagerness  and  impetuosity  may  also  be 
incurable  faults,  but  that  you  cannot  always  tell 
beforehand.     They  are  developed  by  the  excitement 


THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  PONY     123 

of  play.  Wonderful  transformations  I  have  known 
in  excitable  animals  by  gentle  and  judicious  handling, 
and  a  polo  pony  should  be  willing  and  eager.  Lazy 
ponies  do  not,  as  a  rule,  make  good  polo  ponies. 

It  is  well,  however,  to  study  the  type  we  require. 
There  is  no  better  object  lesson  than  to  go  to 
one  of  the  leading  clubs  when  members'  games 
are  being  played.  Round  the  pavilion  there  will  be 
grouped  about  a  hundred  ponies,  each  of  which  is 
more  or  less  of  a  true  type.  In  order  to  buy  such 
ponies  you  must  keep  your  eyes  open  and  take  them 
when  you  can  find  them,  with  or  without  a  trial. 
You  must  go  about  and  look  for  them.  The 
hunting  field,  country  towns  on  market  days,  horse 
repositories,  Galloway  race-meetings,  are  all  possible 
places.  You  never  know  when  you  will  or  will  not 
find  a  treasure.  The  wise  buyer,  if  he  has  a  little 
grass  round  his  house,  will  not  refuse  a  promising 
youngster  if  the  price  is  right.  Mares  and  fillies  are 
better  than  geldings.  If  there  is  accommodation  for 
them  at  home  it  is  no  bad  plan  to  buy  a  promising 
three-year-old  filly,  sending  her  to  a  good  polo  pony 
sire,  if  you  have  one  in  your  neighbourhood.  She 
will  not  be  ready  for  polo  till  five,  and  you  may  have 
a  nice  youngster  to  the  good.  Those  ponies  that  you 
believe  or  know  to  have  a  strong  infusion  of  pony 
blood,  nearly  always  make  the  best  polo  ponies.  It 
used  to  be  the  fashion  to  pooh-pooh  pony  blood,  but 
now  all  those  who  have  studied  the  subject  know 
that  some  pony  blood  runs  in  the  veins  of  most  of 
our  best  polo  ponies.     This  at  all  events  is  certain. 


124        POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

that  if  you  are  bent,  as  I  think  wisely,  on  making 
your  own  ponies,  those  with  some  Welsh  or  Exmoor, 
Dartmoor,  or  New  Forest  blood  in  their  veins, 
will  certainly  come  to  your  hand  more  easily  and 
readily  than  the  thoroughbred  dwarfs  and  misfits 
which  four  or  five  years  ago  were  the  common  ideal 
of  what  a  polo  pony  ought  to  be. 

Once  having  obtained  the  pony,  the  next  step  is 
to  train  it.  Let  us  ask  ourselves  what  a  polo  pony 
ought  to  be  able  to  do.  To  hear  some  people  talk, 
one  might  be  tempted  to  imagine  that  to  train  a  polo 
pony  was  a  feat  as  difificult  as  to  play  the  violin.  In 
truth  it  is  quite  simple  and  well  within  the  power  of 
any  man  who  has  patience,  perseverance,  and  horse- 
manship sufllicient.  The  training  for  polo  is  merely 
the  thorough  breaking  and  education  that  every 
horse  should  have.  The  greater  part  of  the  process 
is  in  no  way  diflFerent  from  careful  and  systematic 
schooling,  such  as  most  horses  would  be  the  better 
for.  The  pony  must  learn  to  go  in  a  collected  form 
in  all  his  paces,  to  become,  in  fact,  as  perfect  a  hack 
as  possible.  A  polo  pony  has  other  special  duties, 
A  horse,  however,  can  only  learn  one  thing  at  a  time 
and  very  little  of  that.  A  general  education  should 
go  before  special  accomplishments. 

The  first  thing  to  do  is  to  make  friends  with  him 
and  to  make  him  gentle  and  familiar.  A  horse  is 
by  nature  nervous,  he  is  not  fearful  until  he  has  been 
made  so  by  ill-usage.  There  is  no  necessity  to 
disturb  ourselves  as  to  whether  a  horse  is  capable  of 
attachment  to  his  master.     I  believe  he  is,  but  many 


THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  PONY     125 

authorities  think  he  is  unable  to  rise  above  the  kind 
of  affection  known  in  the  nursery  as  cupboard  love. 
To  search  into  motives  is  needless.  The  point  is 
that  we  should  be  able  to  handle  the  pony  without 
any  apprehension  arising  in  his  mind  that  we  mean 
to  hurt  him.  The  man  who  has  to  handle  and 
break  many  horses  will  find  that  he  can  do  much 
by  quiet  restrained  movements  and  gentle  speech. 
Always  speak  to  a  horse  before  you  go  into  his  box, 
and  talk  to  him  while  you  handle  him.  If  the  pony 
is  entirely  unbroken  his  first  lessons  should  be 
with  the  lunging  rein.  I  know  that  this  has  fallen 
rather  into  discredit,  but  there  is  nothing  better  to 
give  the  first  lessons  with  than  the  lunging  rein.  It 
is,  of  course,  best  to  begin  in  a  school  for  breaking 
horses  in.  Their  attention  is  not  distracted,  there  is 
nothing  to  startle  them.  The  common  mistake 
made  in  lunging  is  that  horses  are  kept  too  long  at 
their  early  lessons.  Ten  minutes  or  a  quarter  of  an 
hour  is  ample.  In  fact,  as  soon  as  the  pony  will  trot 
round,  first  in  one  direction  and  then  in  the  other, 
quietly  and  steadily,  the  lesson  should  be  brought  to 
an  end.  Even  if  the  pony  has  nominally  been 
broken  to  saddle  or  harness  I  should  still  lunge  him 
for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  twice  a  day  for  a  week. 
This  teaches  him  to  do  his  work  steadily  and  to  obey, 
which  is  the  foundation  on  which  all  our  teaching 
must  rest. 

In  these  early  lessons  you  will  have  kept  steadily 
before  you,  that  in  training  a  pony  for  polo  the 
point   to  which  particular  attention  should  be  paid 


126        POLO:   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

is  the  training  of  the  pony's  disposition.  If,  by 
injudicious  treatment,  you  spoil  in  any  degree  your 
pony's  temper,  he  is  by  so  much  the  less  suitable  for 
polo.  The  very  fact  that  a  horse's  intelligence  is 
limited  and  his  memory  retentive  should  make  us 
more  careful  of  his  training.  Just  as  we  have  to  be 
more  careful  of  our  speech  to  a  dull  or  stupid  man 
than  to  a  clever  one,  so  it  is  easier  to  spoil  a  horse 
in  his  training  than  the  more  intelligent  dog.  The 
union  of  courage,  limited  intelligence,  and  a  highly 
strung  nervous  organisation  which  marks  the  horse 
among  domestic  animals  should  be  the  guide  to  our 
treatment  of  him.  We  must  not  forget  that  the 
intelligence  of  animals,  though  (perhaps  because)  it 
is  limited,  is  within  those  limits  more  effective  than 
ours.  An  animal  when  undisturbed  by  fear  or 
fatigue  desires  always  to  do  what  it  can  as  well  as 
it  is  able.  Moreover,  as  the  constitution,  so  the 
temperament  of  every  horse  varies,  and  each  is 
different  from  the  other. 

As  I  am  not  writing  for  dealers  and  those  who 
have  to  do  with  horses  in  considerable  numbers,  but 
for  men  who  wish  to  train  a  few  ponies,  not  more 
than  one  or  two  at  a  time,  for  their  own  riding,  it  is 
quite  easy  to  study  the  idiosyncrasies  and  peculiarities 
of  each  subject.  In  this  way,  taking  the  methods 
noted  above  in  relation  to  each  pony,  we  shall  be 
able  to  modify  and  adapt  them.  Inasmuch  as  the 
case  supposed  here  is  that  of  a  man  who  has  no 
ulterior  object  in  view  beyond  making  as  good  a 
polo  pony  for  his  own  use  as  possible,  the  method  is 


THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  PONY     127 

much  simplified.  When  we  come  to  ride  the  pony 
the  first  thing  to  do  is  to  see  to  the  bitting  and 
saddling.  I  am  a  great  believer  in  the  use  of  a 
roomy,  comfortable  saddle  that  fits  the  rider.  I  have 
had  many  saddles,  some  new  and  some  second-hand, 
but  the  fault  I  generally  find  is  that  the  saddles  are 
too  short.  A  comfortable  saddle  for  the  man  is  a 
great  point  in  the  education  of  the  pony.  The  more 
easily  the  rider  is  able  to  sit  the  less  will  he  be  likely 
to  worry  the  pony's  mouth.  I  have  put  the  comfort 
of  the  rider  first  because  I  have  never  found  any 
difficulty  in  having  a  well-made  hunting  -  saddle 
stuflFed  to  'fit  a  pony  by  the  nearest  saddler.  Each 
pony  you  train  should  have  his  own  saddle,  and  as 
his  condition  improves  the  stuffing  should  be  care- 
fully looked  to,  as  pain  or  inconvenience  upsets  a 
horse's  temper  and  distracts  his  attention,  and  our 
aim  must  be  to  have  an  animal  thoroughly  tractable 
to  our  will.  There  are  moments  when  compulsion 
must  be  used  as  in  the  hunting-field,  but  so  far  as  is 
consistent  with  always  being  master,  it  should  be 
used  as  little  as  possible  with  the  polo  pony.  It  is 
at  this  point  that  privately  trained  ponies  have  the 
advantage  over  those  which  are  educated  with  a  view 
to  selling.  They  can  have  more  individual  attention 
expended  on  them. 

From  the  saddle  we  pass  to  the  bit.  There  are 
many  fancy  bits  in  the  market,  but  for  the  privately 
trained  pony  there  is  only  one— ^the  ordinary  double 
bridle  we  use  in  the  hunting-field.  The  cheeks  may 
be  longer  or  shorter  according  as  the  pony  is  more 


128         POLO:   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

or  less  eager  by  nature,  for  we  must  always  be  able 
to  stop  a  polo  pony.  The  best  of  all  are  those  keen, 
high-couraged  ones  that  want  to  gallop,  but  these  are 
exactly  the  ponies  that  need  the  most  control.  Yet 
a  dead  pull  on  the  reins  should  always  be  avoided  as 
far  as  possible,  and  therefore  the  bit  must  be  suffici- 
ently powerful  to  make  the  pony  throw  his  head  up 
at  once  when  checked.  This  should  be  done  with  a 
sharp,  but  not  violent  jerk,  never  with  a  steady  pull, 
because  all  we  have  to  do  is  to  convey  one's  wishes 
to  the  pony  without  deadening  his  mouth.  It  is 
well  always  to  speak  sharply  when  we  check  the  pony, 
and  after  a  time  we  shall  find  that  raising  the  hand 
and  speaking  will  steady  him  without  any  pull  on  the 
mouth  at  all.  One  of  the  first  things  a  polo  pony 
has  to  learn,  and  perhaps  it  is  necessary  for  the  rider 
as  well,  is  that  his  work  must  be  done  with  a  loose 
rein.  The  pony  should  never  begin  to  learn  how  to 
pull.  It  is  evident  that  all  this  can  be  taught  quietly 
when  riding  along  the  road.  The  fact  is,  in  the 
earlier  stages  of  the  training  all  we  have  to  do  is  to 
ride  the  pony  whenever  we  can.  As  we  trot  or  walk 
along  the  road  we  should  be  always  feeling  the  pony's 
mouth,  and  endeavouring  with  a  gentle  pressure  of 
the  legs  to  force  him  up  to  his  bit,  and  to  bring  his 
hind  legs  under  him,  so  that  in  all  paces  which  we 
are  likely  to  use — trot,  walk,  and  canter — the  pony 
shall  be  going  with  a  light  forehand.  This  we  can 
do  simply  by  bearing  in  mind,  when  riding  over  the 
farm  or  going  to  covert,  that  the  pony  will  some- 
day be  wanted  for  polo.     The  best  understanding 


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O 

THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  PONY     129 

will  spring  up  between  us  and  our  ponies,  since  we 
shall  never  be  the  cause  of  needless  pain  or  suffering 
to  them.  The  rides  will  be  equally  a  pleasure  to 
both,  and  while  we  are  hacking  about  day  by  day  the 
pony  will  be  growing  into  condition  and  putting  on 
muscle.  I  strongly  deprecate  anything  but  general 
training  when  a  pony  is  weak  or  out  of  condition. 

When  the  time  comes  to  give  the  special  training 
needed  for  polo  the  pony  ought  to  be  fit  and  full  of 
life,  while  he  will  scarcely  know  if  there  be  another 
will  than  that  of  his  rider.  If  during  the  preliminary 
period  the  pony  shows  signs  of  an  obstinate  and 
sulky  temper  ;  if,  without  any  fault  of  yours,  he  puts 
his  chin  in  his  chest  and  pulls  against  you  ;  if  you 
discover  any  faults  of  action,  then  I  should  say  his 
education  was  not  worth  proceeding  with,  and  I  should 
break  him  to  harness  and  sell  him.  The  chances 
are  that  his  vocation  in  life  is  that  of  an  ordinary 
ride-and-drive  pony. 

When  you  can  do  anything  with  him  on  the 
road,  then  comes  the  next  step,  the  special  educa- 
tion needed  for  a  polo  pony.  You  are  now  on 
the  best  of  terms  with  your  pony.  By  this  time 
you  ought  to  know  for  certain  whether  he  is 
likely  to  suit  you  for  the  game.  I  found  in 
practice  that,  after  a  little  time,  I  could  generally  tell 
whether  a  pony  was  worth  persevering  with  or  not. 
The  probability  is  that  he  will  be.  The  failures  are  the 
minority.  A  pony  that  would  perhaps  be  rejected  by 
an  experienced  dealer  in  polo  ponies  as  not  worth  his 
trouble  might,  in  a  private  stable,  turn  out  very  well. 


I30        POLO:   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

In  the  case  of  the  dealers  time  is  money,  and  most  of 
them  prefer  buying  ponies  more  or  less  ready  made. 
They  know  where  to  place  them  at  a  profit.  But  the 
object  of  this  chapter  is  to  help  a  man  to  make  a 
pony  for  his  own  riding. 

The  best  time  to  begin  a  pony's  education  is  in  the 
autumn.  You  have  then  a  whole  winter  before  you,  in 
which  to  give  the  pony  a  variety  of  work.  Nothing 
is  better  than  a  trot  or  canter  to  covert,  though 
you  must  not  start  late  and  gallop  eight  or  ten  miles. 
What  can  be  better  than  a  ride  to  covert  ?  He  comes 
out  of  the  stable  head  up,  ears  pricked,  with  that  look 
of  alertness  so  characteristic  of  a  pony.  After  a  little 
preliminary  play  you  find  a  soft  side  to  the  road  and 
trot  along.  The  action  is  smooth  and  springy,  the 
head  carried  well  up.  Answering  to  a  light  check 
with  the  hand  and  pressure  of  the  legs  the  pony 
brings  his  hocks  well  under  him,  you  see  his 
shoulders  working  freely,  and  he  steps  over  the  ruts 
as  though  treading  on  air.  Then  we  turn  off  from 
the  road  and  a  gate  has  to  be  opened,  and  gate  open- 
ing is  an  excellent  exercise  for  man  and  beast. 
Then  comes  a  stretch  of  soft  turf,  and  a  fast  canter 
may  be  indulged  in.  Yet  we  are  still  careful  as  to 
the  form  the  pony  goes  in,  and  do  not  go  too  fast. 
I  believe  it  to  be  one  of  the  cardinal  maxims  of  polo- 
pony  training  that  a  pony  should  not  gallop  his  best 
except  in  the  game.  This  does  not  apply  equally  to 
ponies  that  have  learned  their  work  :  I  have  known 
several  ponies  that  could  be  taken  from  racing  to  polo, 
and  would  play  as   steadily  and  well  as   could  be 


THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  PONY 


131 


desired.  But  the  treatment  of  the  older  pony 
naturally  permits  of  more  liberty  than  that  of  the 
younger. 

But  to  return  to  the  road  to  covert.  You  should 
be  having  a  delightful  ride,  noting  the  advance  your 
pony  has  made  in  training,  or  perceiving  faults  that 
need  attention.  It  is  quite  probable  that  with  a 
young  pony,  and  particularly  if  it  comes  from  Ireland, 
there  may  be  a  little  exhibition,  we  will  not  say  of 
temper,  but  of  waywardness.  After  looking  about 
him  the  pony  sees,  or  pretends  to  see,  something 
very  startling,  stops,  wheels  round,  and  tries  to  make 
oiF  home.  As  the  rider  who  has  to  think  of  the 
education  of  his  mount  is  probably  on  the  alert,  he 
meets  the  attack  by  bringing  his  hunting  crop 
down  on  the  pony's  shoulder  and,  speaking  sharply, 
tightens  the  reins.  If  this  is  .done  quickly  enough 
it  probably  checks  the  incipient  rebellion,  and  there 
is  no  further  trouble.  But  if  a  pony  has  succeeded 
to  ever  so  slight  a  degree  in  an  act  of  rebellion  he 
will  try  it  again,  and  it  will  save  trouble  if  we  are 
beforehand  with  him.  Thus  the  hesitation  and  the 
gathering  of  himself  together  before  the  turn  round 
may  be  stopped  at  once  by  a  word,  a  check  on  the 
bridle,  or  a  slight  touch  with  the  spurs.  But  if  the 
pony  has  come  round,  then  two  or  three  strokes 
down  the  shoulder  accompanied  by  a  sharp  word  wiU 
be  necessary.  This  is  not  a  case  for  patience  but  for 
instant  action. 

The  best  polo  ponies  are  often  mares.  I  had 
almost  written  always,  but  I  recollected  "  Cyclops,'' 


132        POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

"  Piper,"  "  Sailor,"  and  "  Johnnie  "  in  time.  Never- 
theless, of  the  ponies  playing  at  any  one  time,  of  those 
that  hold  a  high  place  in  the  estimation  of  polo  players, 
the  probability  is  that  the  majority  are  mares.  We 
ought  to  be  very  much  more  patient  with  mares 
than  geldings.  They  are,  as  one  might  expect,  much 
more  wayward  than  the  latter,  but  their  tricks  mean 
less.  They  are  extraordinarily  sensitive  to  the  voice 
— a  word  is  often  enough  where  a  blow  would  be 
needed  with  the  other.  I  am  always  very  unwilling 
to  hit  a  mare,  and  have  more  than  once  succeeded 
in  training  one  without  using  the  ash  plant  at  all. 
In  any  case,  I  believe  it  is  a  sound  rule  never  to  hit 
a  horse  more  than  twice  or  thrice  at  one  time. 

If  the  rider  can  be  sure,  which  is  not  always  the 
case,  of  not  using  them  unconsciously,  I  should 
advise  the  use  of  sharp  spurs  during  training.  Spurs 
are  good  on  the  principle  that  prevention  is  better 
than  cure,  for  a  sharp  touch  of  the  spur  wiU  often 
nip  a  possible  rebellion,  and  cause  a  horse  to  spring 
forward  in  a  way  that  gives  an  opportunity  to  the 
rider.  Spurs  have  fallen  into  disfavour,  yet  I  think 
they  should  always  be  worn  on  the  road.  The  dis- 
use of  spurs  I  attribute  to  two  causes.  First,  because 
the  long  straight  spurs  which  are  the  fashion  are 
reaUy  dangerous.  They  are  very  smart,  and  as 
dummies  useful,  but  when  I  wish  to  use  sharp  spurs 
I  prefer  ithe  old-fashioned  short  spur  slightly  bent 
downward.  The  other  reason  is  that  spurs  are 
thought  to  be  cruel,  and  this,  not  because  they  hurt 
the  horse  more  than  a  whip  or  stick  would  do,  but 


m 


THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  PONY     133 

that  they  pain  the  spectator  more.  Yet  the  drop  of 
blood  on  a  thin-skinned  horse  is  probably  the  evidence 
of  far  less  suffering  to  the  animal  than  the  weals 
inflicted  by  an  ash  plant  or  a  cutting  whip.  Of 
course  there  are  men  who  are  neither  to  be  trusted 
with  whip  nor  spur,  but  if  I  had  doubts  about  a 
man's  temper,  and  had  to  put  him  on  a  horse  that 
required  stimulating,  I  would  rather  put  spurs  on 
his  heels  than  a  whip  in  his  hand. 

By  this  time  the  pony,  hacked  about  and  exercised, 
should  be  in  fair  condition,  accustomed  to  various 
sights  and  sounds,  and  it  has  possibly  even  been 
hunted  with  harriers.  I  do  not  think,  however,  that 
it  is  a  good  plan  to  hunt  quite  young  ponies  while 
in  training  for  polo.  It  is  one  of  the  conditions  of 
success  that  the  pony  shall  be  fresh  on  its  legs,  that 
these  should  be  neither  shaken  nor  sore.  An  old 
pony  may  be  hunted  without  any  fear  of  doing  harm 
when  the  ground  is  soft.  Yet  I  am  strongly  in 
favour  of  a  winter's  rest  for  old  ponies,  if  the  pony 
can  be  spared.  But  we  have  to  balance  advantages, 
and  if  the  pony  is  wanted  he  must  be  worked.  I 
prefer  harness  work  for  old  ponies,  provided  the  cart 
be  so  balanced  as  to  throw  little  or  no  weight  on  the 
back.  For  most  ponies  steady  road  work,  say  in 
a  four-wheeled  dog-cart,  or  as  leaders  in  a  team 
or  tandem,  is  useful  exercise.  But  it  must  be 
remembered  that  we  are  now  dealing  with  ponies, 
possibly  young  ones,  and  that  everything  we  do  is 
directed  to  one  object,  to  make  polo  ponies  of  them. 
Incidentally,  we  shall  be  in  possession  of  a  pony  so 


134        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

well  schooled  that  it  can  be  adapted  for  any  purpose 
for  which  it  is  required. 

When  once  the  trainer  is  satisfied  that  the  pony- 
has  learned  all  he  can  teach  him  in  the  school  or  on 
the  road,  the  first  part  of  the  training  is  over.  Before 
beginning  the  second  part  it  is  no  bad  plan  to  let  the 
pony  have  a  rest  of  a  fortnight  or  so,  and  if  the 
ground  is  fairly  soft  a  meadow  or  paddock  is  not  a 
bad  place  to  take  it  in.  Then,  when  he  comes  up 
again,  go  quickly  over  the  lessons  of  the  past  two  or 
three  months  to  see  that  the  pony  is  tractable,  and  to 
prevent  his  coming  to  the  second  stage  of  his  educa- 
tion when  above  himself. 

The  general  training  is  now  over,  and  after  we 
have  had  some  experience  we  shall  be  able  to  judge 
whether  we  can  make  anything  of  the  pony  for 
polo  purposes.  If  we  think  it  unlikely  that  the 
pony  will  make  a  really  useful  polo  pony  it  is  better 
to  let  him  go  to  other  work.  Our  object  in  training 
a  pony  is  to  enable  us  to  enjoy  the  game,  and  it  is 
a  mistake  to  be  drawn  aside  by  anything  from  this 
purpose.  In  the  end  it  is  far  more  economical  to 
sell  an  unsatisfactory  pony  and  to  try  another,  than 
to  persevere  when  our  common-sense  and  knowledge 
of  horse-flesh  tell  us  that  only  a  limited  success,  if 
any,  is  possible.  But  if  we  are  satisfied  that  the  pony 
will  suit  us  after  all,  then  it  is  time  to  take  the  next 
step  forward  in  his  education.  This  is  to  accustom 
him  to  the  stick,  and  about  this  there  should  be  no 
trouble.  If,  as  suggested  above,  the  pony  has  been 
trained  with  spurs,  and  has  not  been  accustomed  to 


THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  PONY     135 

regard  the  right  hand  uplifted  with  a  stick  as  a  pre- 
liminary to  punishment,  there  will  be  very  little 
difficulty.  I  have  never  known  a  case  of  a  pony 
that  refused  to  allow  you  to  use  a  polo  stick,  unless 
he  had  been  hit  about  the  legs  and  head  with  it.  In 
this  case  it  is  not  wonderful  if  he  has  a  dislike  to  the 
stick.  Of  course,  every  one  has  known  ponies  that 
were  stick  shy,  but,  to  speak  from  my  own  experience, 
I  have  found  that  even  in  the  case  of  Indian  country- 
breds — surely  the  most  nervous  of  horses — there 
was  but  little  difficulty  in  accustoming  the  ponies  to 
allow  a  stick  to  be  used  from  their  backs.  The  rules 
of  polo  lay  down  the  regulation  that  players  are  not 
to  strike  their  ponies  with  the  head  of  their  sticks. 
The  man  who  trains  ponies  will  be  well  advised  if 
he  abstains  from  the  use  of  the  cane  as  well.  A  pony 
forgets  nothing,  and,  to  say  the  least,  being  hit 
with  any  part  of  the  stick  is  not  likely  to  make  him 
fond  of  the  game.  An  old  hardened  pony  with  his 
habits  well  set,  and  that  may,  for  all  we  know,  be  as 
fond  of  the  game  as  his  master,  will  stand  a  good 
deal.  Habit  goes  for  so  much  with  horses,  but  the 
young,  fresh  pony  is  nervous  and,  because  everything 
is  strange,  easily  scared. 

To  return  to  the  stick.  Mounting  the  pony  in 
the  field  or  paddock  we  have  set  apart  for  training 
our  ponies  in,  and  carrying  a  polo  stick  in  the  right 
hand,  we  ride  at  a  trot  and  canter  until  the  pony  is 
prepared  to  go  steadily.  There  is  likely  to  be  a 
little  effervescence  of  spirit  at  the  first  start  off.  If 
so  all  the  better,  but  that  is  not  the  time  to  begin 


136        POLO:   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

swinging  a  polo  stick.  As  soon  then  as  he  has 
steadied  down  swing  the  stick  about,  first  below  the 
level  of  the  saddle  as  though  hitting  a  ball  along  the 
ground.  Why  not  have  a  ball  as  well  and  thus  save 
time  ?  Because  all  the  rider's  attention  must  be 
fixed  on  so  managing  the  stick  that  it  shall  not  hit 
the  pony,  and  if  there  is  a  ball  in  rough  ground  it  is 
difficult  to  avoid  doing  this  sometimes.  One  thing 
at  a  time  is  an  excellent  rule  for  polo-pony  training. 
In  the  next  place,  we  should  from  this  time  forth  carry 
a  polo  stick  whenever  we  ride,  or  any  long  walking 
stick  with  a  fairly  heavy  handle  will  do  as  well. 

Then  we  have  to  consider  what  the  next  steps 
ought  to  be.  Three  things  are  chiefly  required  of  a 
polo  pony — that  he  should  start  quickly,  turn  sharply, 
and  that  he  should  gallop  smoothly  and  steadily  on 
the  ball.  Leaving  the  last  for  the  present  we  have  to 
consider  the  second  of  the  three.  The  pony  must 
turn  sharply  on  the  signal  given.  The  first  thing  is 
to  teach  him  to  change  his  legs.  To  begin  with,  he 
should  be  walked,  trotted  and  cantered  slowly  in  a 
wide  figure  of  eight.  Choose  a  space  of  turf  as 
smooth  as  possible,  and  place  two  polo  balls  at  about 
twenty  yards  apart.  Take  the  reins  in  both  hands  at 
first.  Make  a  complete  circle  round,  one  say  from 
right  to  left,  then  a  circle  from  left  to  right  round 
the  other.  Go  on  at  this,  using  circles  of  about  the 
same  size  and  riding  at  the  same  even  pace  ^  until  the 
pony  describes  the  circles  easily  and  smoothly,  chang- 
ing his  leg  as  the  pressure  of  the  right  or  left  leg  of 

^  Beginning  from  a  walk. 


THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  PONY     137 

the  rider  indicates,  and  without  any  more  pressure  of 
the  bit  on  his  mouth  than  the  lightest.  A  touch  of 
the  reins  and  the  signal  given  by  the  rider's  leg  are 
the  signs  he  is  wanted  to  obey.  This  is  simply  a 
matter  of  practice  for  the  pony.  He  requires  to 
learn  to  do  it  by  frequent  repetition.  When  he 
will  do  this  readily  and  easily,  starting  either  way 
and  acting  in  complete  obedience  to  the  signals  given 
by  the  rider,  the  pace  may  be  increased,  but  it  is  not 
necessary  or  even  desirable  to  try  for  great  speed. 
When  the  action  of  changing  his  legs  is  so  habitual 
as  to  become  as  it  were  instinctive,  so  that  the  response 
to  the  rider's  will  is  ready  and  instantaneous,  and  he 
will  make  the  change  with  but  the  slightest,  if  any 
pressure  on  the  bit,  the  lesson  is  learned.  But  a  day 
of  his  instruction  should  never  pass  without  a  figure 
of  eight  at  a  steady  pace.  If  the  lesson  is  thoroughly 
learned  he  will  change  his  leg  as  quickly  and  as 
surely  in  the  game,  when  galloping  at  high  pressure, 
as  he  does  on  the  practice  ground.  There  should  in 
time  be  neither  perceptible  effort  nor  resistance  in  his 
action  when  turning.  The  circles  should  be  reduced 
in  size  so  as  to  make  the  turns  quicker,  but  they 
need  not  be  made  too  small.  There  should  always 
be  room  for  the  pony  to  stride  round  comfortably. 

I  have  said  that  in  carrying  out  this  exercise  the 
pony  should  have  as  little  pressure  on  the  reins  as 
possible,  but  this  must  be  qualified  by  the  considera- 
tion that  with  big  and  awkward  ponies  we  have  to  be 
careful  that  they  go  in  collected  form,  with  their 
hocks  well  brought  under  them  and  a  light  fore-hand. 


138        POLO:   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

If  pains  have  been  taken  with  the  preliminary  train- 
ing of  the  pony  then  it  ought  to  be  in  the  habit  of 
moving  in  true  form.  These  figures  of  eight  having 
been  thoroughly  mastered,  the  pony  ought  to  be  pre- 
pared for  at  least  the  ordinary  occasions  of  the  game. 
But  there  are  frequent  occasions  for  sharper  turns 
than  a  pony  will  make  when  cantering  in  a  circle,  and 
for  these  I  propose  a  further  exercise.  Plant  four 
posts  in  the  ground  so  as  to  mark  the  corners  of  a 
parallelogram.  Suppose  then  that  A,  B,  C,  D  are 
the  four  posts.  Start  from  A,  springing  off  into  a 
sharp  canter,  ride  to  B,  check  the  pony,  and  bringing 
him  sharply  round  ride  back  diagonally  to  D,  then  from 
D  to  C  and  C  to  A,  trying  not  to  go  beyond  the  post 
and  to  come  round  and  be  off  as  quickly  as  possible. 
The  pony  should  be  checked  at  B  and  D.  It  is  evident 
that  this  will  admit  of  a  variety  of  exercises  giving 
practice  in  starting,  stopping,  and  turning,  thus — 

A..-^-- _>^>rrrr>. _ _  B 


::^^ 


__>_C 


This  exercise  is  an  admirable  one,  for  it  rehearses 
a  situation  not  uncommon  at  polo.  As  a  rule,  I 
prefer  that  the  distance  should  be  considerable,  say, 
fifty  or  sixty  yards  from  A  to  B,  and  C  to  D,  or 
even  more.     That  the  practice  at  this  should  not  be 


THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  PONY     139 

prolonged  at  one  time,  and  that  the  distances  should 
be  frequently  varied,  are  suggestions  which  every  one 
will  see  the  force  of 

By  the  time  that  a  pony  can  do  these  exercises 
easily,  willingly,  and  without  hesitation  at  the  turns, 
he  will  be  far  advanced  in  his  education  as  a  polo  pony. 

The  next  point  is  to  teach  him  to  become  accus- 
tomed to  the  ball,  so  that  he  will  allow  you  to  strike 
it  in  any  direction  you  please  from  his  back.  Pony 
and  rider  will  by  this  time  necessarily  be  on  excellent 
terms.  The  rider  will  know  what  the  pony  can  do, 
and  the  pony  will  have  entire  confidence  that  his 
master  will  not  hurt  him.  It  must  have  occurred  to 
every  one  who  has  had  to  do  with  polo  ponies  that 
many  of  their  faults  come  from  a  certain  dread  of  the 
ball,  or  of  the  rider's  efforts  to  strike  it.  Now  a  pony 
has  three  excellent  reasons  for  this.  First  of  all  he 
is  not  infrequently  struck  by  the  ball.  Some  cases 
of  this  cannot  be  avoided,  but  I  do  not  think  players 
are  sufficiently  careful  about  it.  The  pony  should 
not  be  used,  as  is  sometimes  done,  to  stop  the  ball, 
nor  should  a  player  so  strike  a  ball  that  it  must 
almost  inevitably  hit  one  of  the  ponies.  I  do  not 
say  this  is  deliberately  done,  but  some  players  take 
chances  rather  freely.  If  the  ball  goes  on,  well,  but 
if  it  does  not,  it  is  the  fortune  of  war.  The  second 
reason  why  ponies  dislike  the  ball  is  because  they 
are  often  struck  by  the  stick  in  the  rider's  endeavour 
to  hit  it.  This  too  is  an  accident  that  sometimes 
occurs  unavoidably,  but  again  neither  in  the  game 
nor  in  practice  should  our  own  or  any  one  else's 


140        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

pony  be  hit  with  the  stick.  Every  effort  should  be 
made  to  avoid  this.  Every  player  feels  justly  mortified 
when  he  has  hit  his  own  pony,  but  some  people 
seem  to  bear  blows  inflicted  by  themselves  on 
other  men's  ponies  with  considerable  equanimity. 
All  polo  players  know,  however,  that  many  ponies 
are  thus  rendered  more  or  less  ball  shy.  I  believe 
that  this  almost  always  arises  from  accidents  and 
blows  occurring  during  the  early  experiences  of  the 
game.  If  once  a  pony  is  fairly  entered  to  polo  and 
takes  to  the  game,  it  is  seldom  indeed  that  they 
become  ball  shy  afterwards. 

A  pony  may  show  reluctance  to  go  on  to  the 
ground,  and  yet  play  well  when  there.  That  is 
merely  nervousness.  I  had  a  nervous  country-bred 
mare  when  stationed  on  the  Indian  frontier  at  Dera 
Ismail  Khan,  that  invariably  reared  up  on  being 
mounted  before  polo,  but,  once  in  the  game,  played 
like  a  book.  For  these  reasons  it  is  desirable  to 
exercise  the  greatest  care  in  the  early  lessons  with 
the  ball.  Even  if  the  pony  shows  no  distaste  of  the 
ball  from  the  very  first,  and  I  have  known  this  to 
happen  not  infrequently,  yet  still  the  lessons  should 
be  continued  steadily.  The  whole  principle  on 
which  the  system  of  training  ponies  here  suggested 
is  based,  is  continual  and  steady  practice,  so  that  each 
of  the  actions  necessary  to  the  game  shall  become  a 
second  nature  to  the  pony.  It  is  not  necessary  then 
to  say  that,  in  training  a  pony  to  allow  the  ball  to  be 
hit  from  his  back,  the  improvement  of  the  player 
himself  should  be  little  thought  of,  and  the  whole 


THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  PONY      141 

attention  given  so  to  hit  the  ball  as  not  to  hurt  the 
pony. 

There  is  still  a  third  cause  of  ball  shyness  in 
ponies.  Some  men  have  a  habit  of  tightening  their 
grip  on  the  reins  before  they  hit  the  ball.  This 
is  a  vice  in  a  player,  and  leads  to  vice  in  the 
pony.  Every  effort  should  be  made  to  give  no 
signal  of  what  we  are  about  to  do  to  the  pony's 
mouth.  The  rein  ought  always  to  be  easily  and 
lightly  held,  or,  if  that  is  a  counsel  of  perfection, 
as  we  know  it  is  with  many  players,  then  the  same 
steady  pull  should  be  kept  at  all  times.  Theoretically, 
a  polo  pony  plays  best  with  not  a  slack  rein,  but  just 
the  lightest  possible  pressure  on  the  bit.  The  bridle 
is  a  signal  not  an  instrument  of  force.  Yet  we  know 
in  practice  that  many  men  partly  hold  on  by  the 
bridle,  and  that  the  check  given  to  the  pony  at  the 
moment  of  striking  the  ball  is  really  for  the  purpose 
of  steadying  the  rider  in  his  seat.  In  counsels  such 
as  we  are  giving  it  is  desirable  to  put  a  high  standard 
before  us,  and  indeed  many  men  could  learn  to  ride 
at  polo  without  spoiling  their  ponies*  mouths  if  they 
would  pay  attention  to  training  themselves.  But  if, 
when  you  are  schooling  your  pony  to  the  use  of  the 
ball,  you  feel  that  such  light  handling  is  beyond  you, 
at  all  events  try  to  make  the  pressure  even,  so  that 
the  pony  shall  come  to  understand  that  a  harder  pull 
means  "  stop."  Also  watch  the  pony's  mouth  very  care- 
fully to  see  that  you  do  not  hurt  it  and  make  it  sore. 

The  ground  chosen  for  the  first  practice  with  the 
ball  should  be  as  smooth  as  possible.     This  is  im- 


142         POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

portant  both  for  the  player  and  the  pony.  Some 
people  have  a  theory  that  rough  ground  is  a  good 
thing.  But  rough  ground  obliges  you  to  pull  up 
constantly,  and  the  great  lesson  to  be  learned  is  to 
go  on  hitting  and  galloping  continuously.  The 
better  the  match  the  less  pulling  up  there  will  be, 
and  what  man  and  pony  have  to  do  in  the  game 
should  be  kept  before  the  mind  in  practice.  Several 
balls  may  be  put  down,  each  one  being  struck  gently 
as  we  come  within  reach  of  it.  This  avoids  the 
necessity  of  checking  and  turning,  and  is  in  accord- 
ance with  the  principle  we  have  laid  down  of  teaching 
one  thing  at  a  time.  Very  soon  the  pony  will  take 
no  notice  of  the  tap  of  the  stick  on  the  ball,  although 
some  nervous  animals  of  course  take  longer  than 
others,  and  some  never  do  quite  overcome  this  dis- 
trust of  the  ball.  With  the  majority  of  ponies  that 
have  come  into  my  hands  untaught  and  untrained, 
there  has  been  little  difficulty,  nor  have  I  ever  heard 
from  other  people  of  much  trouble  in  this  matter. 

Thus  with  a  careful  rider  and  reasonably  sure 
hitter,  the  pony  soon  learns  to  take  no  notice  of  the 
ball.  Men  who  can  play  polo  at  all,  and  keep  them- 
selves in  steady  and  constant  practice,  can  hit  a  ball 
about  a  field  when  there  is  no  one  to  interfere 
with  them.  I  have  suggested  above  that  whatever 
difficulties  there  may  be  between  the  pony  and  the  ball 
come  at  first.  It  is  probable  that  when  once  a  pony 
is  fairly  entered  to  a  game  he  recognises  the  part 
played  in  it  by  the  ball,  and  learns  to  take  an  in- 
telligent interest    in    its    movements.      Mr.  Moray 


THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  PONY     143 

Brown  always  declared  that  the  ponies  watched  the 
course  of  the  ball  through  the  air  and  directed  their 
movements  accordingly.  Every  one  has  known 
ponies  that  would  turn  at  the  sound  of  the  stick  on 
the  ball,  when  a  backhander  is  struck.  One  pony 
certainly  always  tried  to  keep  the  ball  on  her  off  side, 
and  would  swing  with  every  bump  of  the  ball, 
following  its  course,  but  always  so  that  it  was 
possible  to  hit  when  you  reached  it.  This  pony, 
which  for  a  short  time  was  in  my  possession,  was  by 
far  the  easiest  to  ride  at  polo  I  have  ever  been  on. 

I  have  now  brought  the  pony  from  its  entry 
into  the  stables  of  its  trainer,  up  to  the  time  when  it 
is  ready  to  go  into  its  first  game  of  polo.  Every- 
thing after  this  depends  on  the  player  into  whose 
hands  it  falls. 

Up  to  this  point  any  man  who  can  ride,  is  able  to 
hit  a  ball  at  a  slow  pace,  and  will  take  pains,  can 
train  a  suitable  pony.  Indeed,  I  know  several 
instances  where  ponies  that  now  take  a  very  high 
place  among  the  best-playing  ponies  of  the  day,  re- 
ceived their  early  training  at  the  hands  of  men,  one 
of  whom  was  a  most  indifferent  player  and  the  other  a 
very  awkward  horseman.  If  the  trainer  is  also  a  good 
player  he  should  have  no  difficulty  in  making  his  pony 
perform  within  the  limits  of  its  natural  qualifications. 

Of  the  best  regimental  teams,  the  13th  Hussars 
and  the  Durham  Light  Infantry  won  most  of  their 
victories  on  ponies  trained  in  the  regiment.  The 
man  with  leisure  will  in  every  way  find  himself  repaid 
by  training  his  own  pony. 


144        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

In  the  first  place  his  ponies  will  cost  him  less  than 
half  as  much  as  if  he  bought  them  ready  made. 
They  will  suit  him  better  in  all  probability.  The  all 
round  pony  that  fits  every  player  is  not  common, 
and  we  shall  in  the  end  have  fewer  disappointments 
than  will  fall  to  our  lot  if  we  buy  ponies  that  other 
people  have  made.  But  I  am  inclined  to  go  a  step 
farther  and  say,  that  I  have  seldom  known  a  first- 
class  player  who  did  not  train  his  own  ponies  to  a 
great  extent.  Nor  do  I  believe  it  is  likely  that 
a  man  will  reach  the  first  class  on  ponies  in  the 
education  of  which  he  has  not  had  a  considerable 
share.  Nothing  is  more  certain  at  polo  than  that 
the  pony  must  suit  the  man  and  his  style  of  play, 
and  this  no  pony  does  as  well  as  the  one  the  player 
has  trained  for  his  own  use.  It  would  of  course  be 
too  much  to  say  that  no  one  ever  became  a  first- 
class  player  on  ponies  in  whose  education  for  polo 
he  had  not  had  some  share.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  are  many  instances  of  second-class  players  pay- 
ing very  large  prices  for  polo  ponies  of  reputation, 
yet  some  of  them  have  never  emerged  from  a  very 
moderate  class  in  the  game. 

I  should  not  like  to  say  that  it  is  necessary  to 
undertake  the  training  of  ponies  from  the  first. 
Indeed,  I  think  that  the  early  training  of  the  pony, 
provided  he  be  in  good  and  kindly  hands,  matters 
very  little,  so  long  as  it  has  not  been  on  a  polo 
ground.  If  I  were  training  ponies  for  sale  I  would 
make  hacks  of  them,  or  even  drive  them  in  harness. 
They  should  be  used  to   stick  and   ball,  but  they 


ii 

o 

hi 


THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  PONY      145 

should  never  be  played  at  polo,  save  possibly  in  a 
cantering  game,  until  they  pass  into  the  hands  of 
the  man  who  really  means  to  play  them.  It  is  often 
said  by  players  that  they  would  prefer  not  to  buy  a 
pony  that  had  been  in  a  moderate  game,  and  I  think 
that  except  for  beginners,  thoroughly  made  ponies 
are  as  a  rule  a  mistake.  I  imagine  that  every  one 
could  have  played  on  "  Black  Bella,"  or  "  Little 
Fairy,"  or  "  My  Girl,"  or  "  Siren,"  or  "  Mademoi- 
selle," or  "  Yellowman,"  "  Piper,"  or  "  Early  Dawn," 
but  on  very  few  others.  In  fact,  many  ponies  that 
are  full  of  promise  are  ruined  in  these  early  matches 
and  games.  Men  get  excited,  and  so  does  the  pony. 
There  are  many  riders  who  are  horsemen  until  they 
find  themselves  in  a  fast  game.  The  pace  of  first- 
class  polo  is  not  merely  faster  in  a  single  race  for 
the  ball,  but  is  played  throughout  at  a  much  higher 
speed  than  ordinary  games.  The  man  has  enough 
to  do  to  look  after  himself,  and  forgets  to  look  after 
his  pony  ;  all  his  horsemanship  vanishes,  and  the 
pony  rapidly  deteriorates.  Many  men  bring  first- 
rate  ponies  from  country  clubs  to  London,  and 
wonder  why  they  deteriorate  so  rapidly.  But  the 
fault  is  in  the  man.  The  pony  wants  a  horseman 
on  his  back  and  finds  he  has  only  a  butcher. 

The  best  results  are  undoubtedly  obtained  where 
a  player  of  high  skill  buys  a  pony  that  is  a  handy 
hack,  or,  if  not  too  much  knocked  about,  a  clever 
hunter,  and  trains  it  in  his  own  way.  True,  to  do 
this  he  must  be  a  horseman  ;  but  then  I  doubt  if  any 
man  ever  did  reach  the  first  rank  at  polo  unless  he 

L 


146        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

was  a  horseman  rather  more  skilful  than  ordinary. 
It  does  not  follow  from  this  that  he  need  be  a 
graceful  rider,  but  he  must  have  a  firm  seat  and 
a  light  hand.  The  best  players  of  our  time,  Mr. 
John  Watson,  Col.  Le  Gallais,  General  Rimington, 
Mr.  Buckmaster,  Major  Gordon  Renton,  Mr.  A. 
Rawlinson,  Mr.  F.  M.  Freake,  are  all  notably  fine 
riders,  though  in  different  styles.  Messrs.  James 
Peat,  Kenyon  Stow,  and  Mildmay,  among  the  older 
players,  were  examples  of  good  horsemanship,  and 
they  are  numbered  among  the  finest  players  we  have 
ever  seen.  Every  one  of  these  players  more  or  less 
makes  or  made  his  own  ponies.  It  is  impossible 
to  lay  too  much  stress  on  the  fact  that  even  first- 
class  polo  is  comparatively  inexpensive  to  the  man 
who  trains  his  own  ponies.  Captain  L.  C.  D. 
Jenner  writes  :  "  I  have  a  stud  of  six  ponies  ;  only 
one  of  these  was  a  made  pony  when  I  bought  it, 
and  that  was  the  only  case  in  which  I  gave  over 
£So.  The  rest  cost  from  ^^60  to  ;^8o,  and  had 
never  been  in  games  before  I  bought  them." 

But  to  sum  up  the  whole  matter.  If  we  look  at  the 
facts  of  polo  instead  of  theories,  we  shall  see  that  to 
train  your  ponies  is  not  only  an  economy  but  an 
advantage,  and  indeed  that,  on  a  pony  fitted  by  your 
own  training  to  your  own  style  of  play,  you  are  more 
likely  to  come  into  the  first-class  games  which  it  is 
the  ambition  of  every  player  to  join  in.  There  is 
one  more  point  to  be  considered.  At  what  age  can 
a  pony  be  trained  ?  We  answer,  that  the  age  of  a 
pony,  provided  it  has  not  been  spoilt  by  previous  bad 


THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  PONY      147 

handling,  is  a  matter  of  secondary  importance.  One 
case  I  know  of,  a  pony  which  had  been  an  ordinary 
ride-and-drive  pony  until  it  was  sixteen  years  old. 
It  was  then  trained  to  polo,  and  sold  as  a  polo  pony 
for  ;^200,  its  previous  value  having  been  less  than 
half  that  sum. 


CHAPTER  VII 


ELEMENTARY  POLO 


The  question  that  will  arise  in  the  mind  of  every 
reader  is — How  much  of  polo  can  I  learn  from  a  book  ? 
Most  of  our  leading  players  learned  the  game  before 
any  books  were  written.  Nor  can  anything  take 
the  place  of  constant  practice  and  the  study  of  the 
methods  of  the  best  players.  At  the  same  time  we 
can  reduce  the  principles  of  polo  to  something  like 
order,  and  give  to  the  beginner  a  few  useful  hints  to 
enable  him  to  avoid  errors  and  to  make  the  most  of 
his  opportunities.  That  is  the  object  of  this  chapter. 
I  have  aimed  at  simplicity  and  directness.  For  polo 
is  from  one  point  of  view  a  more  simple  game  than 
it  looks  to  be.  The  difficulty  and  the  charm  of 
polo  lie  in  the  fact  that  everything  must  be  done 
quickly.  There  is  no  other  first-class  game,  except 
tennis  and   racquets,   at  which  hand  and  eye  must 

148 


ELEMENTARY  POLO  149 

work  together  so  accurately  and  with  such  rapidity 
as  at  polo. 

It  is  therefore  necessary  that  any  system  of  pre- 
liminary practice  should  be  simple  and  expressed  in 
terms  as  direct  as  possible.  I  will  suppose  therefore 
that  my  counsels  are  directed  to  a  young  player  who 
has  a  handy  pony,  is  able  to  ride  fairly  well,  and  can 
command  the  use  of  a  level  field.  In  all  polo  books 
wiU  be  found  advice  as  to  the  use  of  a  wooden  horse 
for  practice,  and  Mr.  Withers  has  invented  a  most 
useful  and  ingenious  machine.  But  the  wooden 
horse  has  the  objection  that  it  requires  the  assistance 
of  a  boy  to  bowl  and  retrieve  the  balls,  and  in  any 
case  the  value  of  these  mechanical  aids  comes  in  at  a 
later  stage.  No  one  could  hope  to  do  much  who 
began  polo  on  a  wooden  horse.  The  pony  is  as 
absolutely  necessary  to  the  beginner  as  the  stick  and 
ball.  The  pony  must  be  one  of  those  handy 
experienced  little  beasts  of  placid  temper  and  con- 
siderable experience  that  are  so  useful,  and  one  that 
will  not  be  upset  by  the  knocks  which  he  will 
certainly  receive.  There  is  nothing  for  this  purpose 
like  an  Argentine  pony  of  medium  size,  about  14.1, 
that  has  had  plenty  of  actual  practice  at  polo.  It  is 
important  that  this  first  pony  should  be  a  sharp  one, 
quick  to  start  and  apt  to  drop  into  his  stride  without 
hesitation  or  dwelling.  He  should  also  be  easy  to 
turn,  and  pleasant  to  ride. 

Having  bought  the  pony,  and  making  quite  sure 
that  he  suits  you,  i.e.  that  he  is  a  pony  you  can  do 
anything  with,   then    proceed    to  test   your   riding. 


50 


POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 


Most  people  who  begin  polo  go  too  quickly.  They 
assume  that  they  can  ride,  as  indeed  they  can  in  a 
fashion,  but  after  watching  a  great  many  players  closely 
for  years,  I  am  convinced  that  the  reason  a  certain 
number  of  men  fail  to  make  the  progress  they  ought 
with  the  game,  is  because  they  cannot  ride  well 
enough. 

Of  course,  many  people  would  be  very  indig- 
nant if  you  told  them  this,  nor  indeed  am  I  referring 
to  the  mere  capacity  for  sticking  on,  but  to  more 
advanced  skill  in  horsemanship.  In  my  polo- 
manager  days  I  used  often  to  be  puzzled  by  the 
failure  of  players  to  fulfil  their  early  promise  at  the 
game.  A  man  would  arrive  on  the  ground,  intro- 
duce himself  as  a  new  member,  and  put  his  name 
down  to  play.  Generally,  before  he  reached  this 
point,  he  had  learned  to  hit  the  ball,  and  possibly 
played  in  a  regimental  game,  or  a  cantering  game  at 
a  county  club.  He  very  often  showed  great  promise 
in  members*  games,  and  became  marked  out  as  a  man 
who  must  be  noted  in  a  handicap  tournament  as  a 
source  of  strength  to  a  team,  and  be  put  down  for 
a  place  in  a  match. 

In  the  handicap  tournament  our  promising  new 
player  was  a  little  disappointing.  He  played  one 
or  two  strokes  astonishingly  well,  but  on  the  whole 
his  performance  was  moderate.  So  it  continued  to 
be,  and  watching  him  carefully  you  saw  that  he  was 
always  an  uncertain  quantity,  with  indeed  brief  flashes 
of  better  play.  Then  you  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  these  latter  always  took  place  when  he  was  riding 


ELEMENTARY  POLO  151 

one  particular  pony.  You  remember  having  heard 
that,  pleased  with  his  own  success,  he  had  bought 
two  well-known  ponies.  They  did  not  suit  him  and 
he  could  not  play  on  them,  not  because  they  are  not 
excellent  ponies  in  the  right  hands,  but  because  their 
new  owner  could  not  ride  well  enough  to  make  the  best 
of  them.  Directly  a  player  of  this  kind  mounts  a 
new  pony,  or  one  that  needs  a  little  bit  of  riding,  he 
loses  his  form.  It  is  in  fact  absolutely  necessary  that 
a  man  should  ride  well  enough  to  play  polo  on  a  first- 
class  pony,  even  if  it  needs  some  horsemanship. 
Every  one  who  has  been  familiar  with  the  polo  of  the 
last  thirty  years  will  recognise  the  truth  of  this.  How 
many  men  have  begun  as  promising  players,  con- 
tinued as  uncertain  ones,  and  ended  by  dropping 
down  to  the  rank  of  those  who  play  members'  games 
contentedly  from  day  to  day,  and  only  stick  to  polo 
because  they  find  the  clubs  a  pleasant  summer  after- 
noon resort.  They  play  in  the  annual  handicap  and 
are  defeated  in  the  Novices'  tournament  every  season. 
The  reason  of  this  is  that  they  could  not  ride  well 
enough.  Pace  and  ponies  have  found  out  many  an 
aspirant  for  polo.  There  are  good  ponies  playing  at 
polo,  but  the  number  of  those  that  a  bad  rider  cannot 
spoil  (there  are  a  few)  is  not  great.  On  the  contrary, 
I  know  men  who  would  play  well  if  they  could  find 
ponies  to  suit  them,  but  they  cannot,  for  they  will 
spoil  almost  any  pony  they  get  on  to. 

There  are,  on  the  other  hand,  horsemen  who  can 
make  most  ponies  play.  Not  that  I  believe  that  a 
first-rate  and  easy  pony  is  not  an  advantage  even  to 


152        POLO:   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

the  best  horseman  :  it  is.  But  there  are  many  ponies 
first-rate  but  not  easy.  It  is  quite  certain  that  horse- 
manship is  the  key  to  polo.  I  will  not  say  that  it  is 
impossible  to  be  a  good  player  and  an  indifferent 
horseman,  but  when  I  turn  over  in  my  mind  the 
names  of  the  first-class  players  I  have  known,  there 
do  not  seem  to  be  any  of  the  bad  horsemen  among 
them.  I  do  not  say  there  are  no  ungraceful  riders, 
but  that  is  not  the  same  thing  at  all.  Again,  I  can 
recollect  several  instances  of  men  who  were  good 
horsemen,  but  who,  either  because  they  began  polo 
late,  or  had  not  been  well  trained  in  games  at  school, 
did  not  at  first  distinguish  themselves  at  polo,  but 
afterwards,  because  they  could  ride  well,  became  fit  for 
first-class  polo. 

Next  to  want  of  horsemanship  the  greatest  cause 
of  failure  is  want  of  ponies  sufficiently  good.  We  all 
know  players  who  would  have  been  in  the  first  class 
could  they  have  mounted  themselves  suitably.  Thus 
the  would-be  polo  player  is  brought  up  at  once  by 
the  question  of  horsemanship  at  polo.  Perhaps  the 
great  secret  of  polo  riding  lies  in  knowing  when  to 
exercise  force.  It  is  quite  certain  that  in  the  course 
of  the  game  there  are  moments  when  we  must  be 
absolutely  master  of  the  pony's  movements.  We 
must  stop  and  turn.  Ponies  vary  a  good  deal  in  the 
amount  of  compulsion  they  require.  The  other 
secret  is  balance.  Many  men  fail  in  this.  In  fact  I 
think  most  English  horsemen  do  so  for  want  of  a 
thorough  and  careful  school  training.  But  it  is 
necessary  at  polo  for  our  own  safety  and  that  of  the 


ELEMENTARY  POLO  153 

pony.  I  have  seen  a  badly  balanced  rider  roll  off  his 
pony  at  polo,  though  he  would  not  think  of  "a 
voluntary  "  when  riding  over  a  country. 

In  the  same  way  a  badly  balanced  rider  is  likely 
to  throw  his  pony  down,  and  many  falls  do  actually 
come  from  this.  If  you  doubt  the  above  you  have 
nothing  to  do  but  to  pick  out  a  quiet  pony,  have  a 
saddle  put  on,  and  make  your  man  put  a  lunging 
rein  on,  then  mount,  tie  your  reins  in  a  knot,  and 
trot  about  without  them.  If  you  feel  perfectly  at 
ease  and  secure,  well  and  good,  but  if  not,  something 
more  is  needed  to  complete  your  education  as  a 
horseman,  for  it  is  most  desirable  that  the  bridle  at 
polo  should  only  be  used  for  its  legitimate  purpose  of 
guiding  or  stopping  the  pony,  and  all  the  work  should 
be  done  as  far  as  possible  with  an  easy,  I  will  not  say 
a  slack,  rein.  How  to  learn  ?  Well,  I  believe  that  a 
polo  player  would  be  immensely  improved  by  a  riding- 
school  course.  Cavalry  soldiers  are,  on  the  average, 
better  players  than  civilians,  and  less  dependent  on  the 
honour  of  their  ponies,  because  they  have  been  through 
the  school. 

But  there  may  not  be  a  school  at  hand,  nor,  if  there 
is,  an  instructor  capable  of  teaching  horsemanship. 
I  will  here  give  a  few  hints  which  may  be  useful. 
The  first  thing  is  to  have  a  saddle  that  fits  you,  and 
it  is  desirable  to  be  quite  sure  it  is  large  enough. 
We  think  of  fitting  the  saddle  to  the  pony,  but  forget 
the  rider  :  many  saddles  are  too  short.  The  weight 
of  a  saddle  at  polo  is  of  no  consequence  compared 
with  its  comfort.     If  a  pony  could  speak  he  would 


154        POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

probably  tell  you  that  he  would  rather  carry  a  few 
pounds  more  than  have  you  rolling  about  because 
you  cannot  sit  in  the  saddle  with  reasonable  comfort. 
I  think  at  polo  plain  flaps  are  desirable,  and  indeed 
I  cannot  imagine  any  one  playing  with  knee  rolls. 
An  old  saddle  is  better  than  a  new  one,  and  stirrup 
leathers  that  have  become  flexible,  than  new  and  stiff 
ones.  What  we  particularly  want  at  polo  are  ease  and 
flexibility  of  seat  in  the  saddle.  Therefore  the  next 
point  is  to  learn  to  do  without  stirrups.  The  best 
way  to  be  independent  of  stirrups  is  to  ride  without 
them.  For  some  time  in  every  day  we  should  trot 
and  canter  with  the  stirrups  crossed  in  front  of  the 
saddle.  Instinctively  we  learn  thus  to  sit  in  the  saddle 
in  the  right  way  and  to  balance  ourselves.  What 
better  opportunity  can  there  be  than  now  when  you 
have  a  steady,  easy-going  pony  with  the  smoothness 
and  steadiness  that  are  so  desirable  in  a  polo  pony  ? 
Try  this  plan  every  day  for  a  month,  and  you  will  see 
how  strong  your  seat  will  become. 

Having  gained  the  power  to  ride  without  stirrups, 
the  next  thing  is  to  do  without  the  bridle.  Put  the 
lunging  rein  on  and  make  your  man  lead  you  about 
until  you  can  feel  quite  at  ease  without  the  reins. 
When  this  is  done  try  riding  without  either  reins  or 
stirrups,  then  when  you  can  trot  and  canter  comfort- 
ably you  will  be  far  advanced  in  the  style  of  horse- 
manship that  a  polo  player  should  have.  Of  course 
there  are  always  some  people  who  are  quicker  than 
others,  but  in  any  case  these  exercises  will  probably 
need  to  be  continued  for  at  least  a  month,  perhaps 


ELEMENTARY  POLO  155 

longer,  and  there  is  no  harm  in  repeating  them  at 
intervals.  The  kind  of  seat  that  a  polo  player  should 
aim  at  is  well  described  in  the  following  passage. 
"  In  order  for  the  rider  to  be  at  his  ease,  he  should 
sit  well  down  in  the  saddle,  without  hanging  on  by 
his  hands  or  gripping  with  his  knees,  which  should 
grip  only  when  occasion  demands.  By  always  grip- 
ping with  the  knees  the  rider  is  made  to  assume  a 
cramped  position  on  horseback.  On  the  contrary, 
the  seat  should  be  maintained  by  balance  and  not  by 
grip.  When  we  use  the  leg  we  should  use  it  from 
the  knee  to  the  heel.  Fatigue  of  the  muscles  above 
the  knee  is  caused  by  stiffness,  and  is  a  sign  that  the 
seat  is  bad."^  These  are  golden  words  and  should 
be  taken  to  heart  by  every  rider.  These  few  precepts 
supplemented  by  constant  practice  in  riding,  which, 
after  the  first  steps  are  taken,  should  be  on  as  many 
different  horses  as  possible,  will  do  much  for  our  skill 
at  polo.  The  practice  advised  gives  confidence, 
which  is  necessary  to  a  polo  player's  riding.  When 
he  has  become  so  perfect  that  he  can  as  it  were  forget 
all  about  his  pony,  he  has  made  a  great  step  towards 
becoming  a  polo  player.  I  am  convinced  that  want 
of  this  self-discipline  and  training  is  the  reason  why 
so  many  players  do  not  come  on  at  the  game  as  they 
might  and  ought  to  do.  A  man  with  a  public-school 
and  university  training  at  games  ought  not  to  find 
polo  difficult,  and  I  may  repeat  what  I  have  said 
before  that  horsemanship  is  the  key  to  polo. 

I  am  well  aware  that  a  man  who  plays  regularly 

1  Breaking  and  Ridings  by  James  Fillis,  trans.   M.  H.  Hayes. 


156        POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

and  often  will  improve  in  his  riding,  but  the  best 
advice  to  be  given  to  a  young  player  would  be  that 
he  should  acquire  horsemanship,  not  merely  "  sticking 
on,"  before  he  begins  polo. 

When  once  the  rider  is  confident  of  his  balance, 
or  even  before,  since  the  two  kinds  of  practice  may 
well  go  on  side  by  side,  the  beginner  takes  up  the 
stick  and  ball.  Indeed,  since  in  the  nature  of  things 
so  long  as  the  pony  is  the  partner  of  his  practice,  he 
must  necessarily  limit  his  time  out  of  consideration 
for  the  pony,  it  is  well  to  have  the  polo  stick  often 
in  his  hand.  Skill  at  polo  as  in  every  other  game 
depends  on  judicious  and  painstaking  practice.  But 
the  first  thing  that  you  have  to  do  is  to  provide 
yourself  with  suitable  polo  sticks.  Next  to  want  of 
horsemanship  and  lack  of  suitable  ponies,  I  am  in- 
clined to  think  that  many  polo  players  spoil  their 
chances  by  not  taking  pains  enough  to  fit  themselves 
with  polo  sticks.  The  shooting  man  is  careful  about 
his  gun,  the  coachman  likes  a  whip  to  suit  him,  and 
the  hog-hunter  looks  to  the  balance  and  length  of  his 
spears.  Yet  the  polo  stick  is  as  important  to  success 
as  the  gun,  and  more  so  than  the  whip  or  the  spear. 
Choose  your  polo  stick  with  the  same  care  as  a  trout 
fisherman  does  his  rod,  and  you  will  be  rewarded. 
It  is,  however,  impossible  to  lay  down  rules  about 
a  stick.  I  can  only  say  that  you  must  go  on  trying 
till  you  find  the  right  length.  1  find  that  a  favourite 
Indian  stick  used  for  a  13.2  pony  is  50  to  53  inches, 
whereas  those  I  used  in  England  are  54.  I  am  of 
medium  height,  5  feet  10  inches,  and  I  should  say  in 


ELEMENTARY  POLO  157 

England  that  from  50  to  56  inches  would  be  about  the 
variation  in  length.  A  big  pony  naturally  requires 
a  longer  stick.  The  handle  should  be  racket-shaped 
and  bound  with  the  broad  tape  we  used  to  call 
newar  in  India.  I  do  not  think  that  a  loop  is 
necessary  if  the  handle  is  of  the  right  shape,  but  you 
can  have  one  if  you  fancy  it.  Personally  I  think 
them  inconvenient  and  possibly  a  little  dangerous. 
The  head  of  the  stick,  its  shape,  its  weight,  and  the 
angle  at  which  it  is  put  on  to  the  stick,  are  all 
important  matters.  Some  prefer  the  cigar-shaped 
heads.  I  believe  Mr.  John  Watson  always  uses 
them,  and  Captain  D.  St.  George  Daly  once  told 
me  that  he  thought  they  would  eventually  oust  the 
square  head.  The  idea  of  this  shape  is  that  it 
picks  the  ball  better  out  of  deep  or  sodden  ground, 
and  it  would  be  well  to  have  some  sticks  so  made. 
The  heads  should  be  fairly  heavy,  not  less  than  10  oz., 
except  for  a  man  who  uses  a  long  stick  and  rides 
a  tall  pony,  when  the  weight,  which  can  be  greater 
with  a  short  stick  than  a  long  one,  may  be  decreased. 
Other  things  being  equal,  a  heavy  head  gives  more 
drive,  and  I  should  strongly  recommend  young 
players  to  try  a  heavier  head  than  they  have  now. 
The  great  thing  is  to  have  a  stick  so  fitted  to  the 
hand  and  arm  by  weight  and  balance  that  it  exactly 
fits.  If  I  may  put  it  so,  the  stick  should  seem  the 
natural  one  to  play  polo  with.  At  the  same  time,  as 
your  skill  increases  it  is  advisable  to  see  what  changes 
you  require.  When  you  have  a  stick  that  you  like, 
take  the  weight  of  the  head  and  the  length  of  the 


158        POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

cane,  and  see  that  you  have  the  others  made  like  them. 
It  is  very  difficult  to  buy  really  first-rate  canes  in 
England,  and  a  considerable  number  of  sticks  prove 
to  be  useless.  India-rubber  rings  round  the  canes 
near  the  heads  for  about  six  or  seven  inches  help 
to  preserve  them  from  splitting.  It  is  the  truest 
economy  never  to  cease  from  buying  sticks  and 
trying  changes  till  you  have  them  exactly  right. 
Thus,  having  a  pony,  and  having  learned  to  ride,  and 
having  provided  yourself  with  a  suitable  stick,  you 
may  proceed  to  practise  with  the  ball. 

It  used  to  be  said  in  the  early  days  of  polo  that 
practice  at  slow  paces  was  useless  because  at  polo 
everything  had  to  be  done  at  a  gallop.  But  this  we 
know  now  is  a  fallacy,  that  it  is  by  steady  work  and 
practice  at  slow  paces  that  mastery  and  control  of  the 
ball  is  to  be  obtained.  Many  beginners  make  a 
mistake  in  attempting  too  much.  There  are,  if  we 
think  it  over,  about  six  comparatively  simple  strokes 
which,  if  once  mastered,  enable  us  to  play  the  game. 
All  the  others  are  only  variations  of  these,  and  come 
to  us  on  the  instant  when  galloping  on  the  ball,  but 
they  cannot  be  reduced  to  rule.  The  chief  thing  for 
the  beginner  is  to  fix  his  mind  on  the  simplest  strokes 
and  to  master  these.  The  rest  will  be  learned  as  he 
goes  on.  The  first,  simplest,  and  most  important 
stroke  of  all  is  to  hit  a  ball  forward  in  a  direct  line 
on  the  ofF-side  of  a  galloping  pony. 

If  it  was  possible  for  us  to  obtain  perfection  at 
this  stroke,  so  that  we  could  always  be  sure  of  driving 
the  ball  straight  to  the  goal-posts  whenever  we  had 


ELEMENTARY  POLO  159 

a  clear  front,  we  should  have  attained  four-sixths  of 
the  elements  of  successful  polo.  All  other  strokes 
are  forced  on  us  as  it  were  by  the  exigencies  of  the 
game.  This  one  is  invariably  necessary  and  should 
always  be  used  where  possible.  There  may  be 
players  who  are  equally  good  on  the  near  and  off  sides, 
but  as  a  rule,  and  certainly  for  beginners  in  a  game, 
the  ball  should  never  be  hit  on  the  near  side  if  it  can 
be  reached  from  the  off.  That  is,  it  is  clearly  better 
so  to  manoeuvre  your  pony  on  a  twisting  ball  as  to 
strike  it  on  the  off  side  as  often  as  possible.  One  of 
the  many  advantages  of  a  handy  pony  is  that  it 
enables  you  to  hit  the  ball  so  much  more  often  on 
the  off  side.  Therefore,  the  first  thing  to  do  is  to 
hit  the  ball  straight  forward  at  slow  paces.  Place  a 
ball  on  the  ground — and  here  let  me  note  a  little 
matter  of  detail  not  without  importance  to  the  be- 
ginner. The  ball  with  which  he  practises  should  be 
a  new  one.  It  is  all  very  well  for  the  accomplished 
player  to  practise  with  chipped,  shapeless  balls.  The 
beginner  needs  them  new  and  round  and  firm.  It 
is  impossible  to  calculate  on  the  result  of  a  stroke  on 
a  broken  ball.  Besides,  at  the  beginning  you  want 
everything  in  your  favour.  So  take  a  new  ball  and 
drive  it  forward.  Sit  easily  in  the  saddle,  with  the 
reins  held  firmly  with  a  light  pressure  on  the  pony's 
mouth  ;  grasp  the  stick  firmly  but  lightly  in  the 
hand,  quite  at  the  top  of  the  handle,  and  remember 
to  hit  with  a  straight  arm.  Do  not  try  to  hit  the 
ball  too  hard,  but  rather  to  hit  it  fairly  when  it  is 
rather  in  front  of  your  foot.     There  is  no  particular 


i6o        POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

spot  in  relation  to  the  pony  where  the  ball  should  be 
when  you  hit,  for  this  depends  on  the  pace  you  are 
going,  the  length  of  your  arm,  and  the  weight  of 
the  stick.  But  the  two  points  to  attend  to  first  are  : 
(a)  not  to  bend  the  elbow,  because  when  you  come  to 
fast  play  it  is  the  straight  arm  that  gives  force  to  the 
blow,  and  a  bent  elbow  leads  to  tipping  or  slicing 
the  ball,  about  as  bad  faults  as  a  player  can  have  ;  {b) 
to  hit  the  ball  fairly  and  drive  it  straight  forward. 
It  is  not  necessary  at  this  point  to  drive  the  ball  far. 
It  is  necessary  that  it  should  travel  in  the  direction 
you  require.  Thus,  from  a  walk  you  go  to  a  trot, 
from  a  trot  to  the  gallop,  obtaining  pace  from  the 
speed  of  the  pony  rather  than  from  the  exertion  of 
physical  strength. 

The  great  point  is  to  hit  the  ball  clean  and 
straight.  This  is  a  practice  which  ought  never  to  be 
intermitted.  As  long  as  you  play  polo  you  can 
never  have  enough  control  over  the  ball  at  this 
simple  forward  stroke,  on  which  so  much  success  at 
polo  depends.  The  next  stroke  of  importance  is  the 
backhander.  As  it  is  the  forward  stroke  that  makes 
goals,  so  it  is  the  backhander  that  saves  them.  The 
former  is  the  principal  stroke  in  attack,  the  latter  in 
defence.  Next  in  importance  is  the  near-side  forward 
stroke.  This  has  been  greatly  developed  by  the 
modern  game  of  passing  and  riding  off.  It  shows 
how  much  the  combined  game  has  grown  that  this 
stroke  has  become  more  and  more  necessary,  and  as 
it  requires  a  great  deal  of  practice,  the  beginner,  when 
once  he  can  hit  fairly  forward  on  the  off  side,  should 


ELEMENTARY  POLO  i6i 

spend  a  considerable  part  of  his  time  on  it.  The 
great  points  to  be  observed  in  our  early  practice 
are  to  learn  to  hit  with  freedom,  bringing  the  left 
shoulder  well  back,  the  back  of  your  wrist  outwards 
and,  above  all,  to  avoid  striking  the  pony.  It  is 
better  to  miss  the  ball  than  to  hit  the  pony.  While  the 
simple  forward  and  back-hand  strokes  should  always 
be  practised  from  the  back  of  a  pony,  the  near-side 
strokes  may  at  first  be  tried  from  the  wooden  horse. 
Many  men  find  considerable  difficulty  in  hitting  the 
ball  at  all  on  the  near  side,  and  it  is  the  first  difficulty 
to  be  overcome.  This  can  be  learned  better  while 
stationary.  It  is  a  mistake  at  first  to  try  to  put 
much  force  into  the  near-side  stroke.  Whatever  pace 
it  has,  will  be  given  it  by  the  speed  we  are  riding 
when  we  come  to  do  it  at  a  gallop.  The  near-side 
backhander,  though  coming  after  the  forward  stroke 
in  importance,  is  not  so  difficult.  There  are  two 
other  strokes  which  are  indeed  modifications  of  the 
four  principal  hits.  And  first,  the  stroke  under  the 
pony's  neck  across  your  front  from  right  to  left. 
This  is,  as  any  one  will  see  who  watches  a  game  of 
polo,  a  most  important  stroke,  for  in  our  modern  game 
when  the  course  of  the  ball  is,  as  so  often  happens, 
down  the  boards,  it  is  by  the  use  of  this  stroke  that 
the  ball  is  brought  opposite  the  goal.  The  other 
stroke  is  from  left  to  right  from  the  near  side. 
Needless  to  say,  it  is  much  more  difficult.  These 
two  strokes  are  not  primary  strokes,  but  they  are  very 
important. 

There  are  also  two  backhanders  on  the  off  and 

M 


1 62        POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

the  near  sides  by  which  the  ball  is  hit  under  the 
pony's  tail.  It  is  very  evident  that  straight  back- 
handers are  seldom  useful — the  ball  goes  as  often  as 
not  into  the  very  midst  of  the  players  on  the  opposite 
side.  It  is  generally  advisable  to  hit  the  ball  to  one 
side  or  the  other.  To  hit  a  near-side  backhander 
under  the  pony's  tail  with  any  direction  to  speak  of, 
implies  a  very  considerable  amount  of  proficiency. 

There  are  thus  at  polo  eight  strokes,  four  primary 
and  four  secondary,  which  everyone  must  strive  to 
master  before  he  can  be  considered  as  able  to  take 
his  place  in  a  match.     These  strokes  are — 

(tf)  Primary  : 

1 .  Simple  forward  stroke  on  the  off  side. 

2.  Simple  backhander  on  the  off  side. 

3.  Forward  stroke  on  the  near  side. 

4.  Backhand  stroke  on  the  near  side. 
(J?)  Secondary  :  ; 

5.  Under  the  pony's  neck  from  right  to  left 

front  (off-side  stroke). 

6.  Under  the  pony's  neck  from  left  to  right 

front  (near-side  stroke). 

7.  Off-side  backhander  under  the  pony's  tail. 

8.  Near-side  backhander  under  the  pony's  tail. 
The  forward  stroke  on  the  near  side  I  consider  to 

be  the  most  difficult  of  all  to  reach  perfection  at. 
To  my  mind  one  of  the  most  beautiful  pieces  of  play 
that  any  one  could  wish  to  see,  or  a  beginner  can 
study,  is  Mr.  Buckmaster's  near-side  play.  It  is  the 
perfection  of  ease,  grace,  and  effectiveness  combined. 
For  style  Mr.  Buckmaster,  Captain  Renton,  and  Mr. 


ELEMENTARY  POLO  163 

A.  R.  Rawlinson  stand  alone.  They  not  only  make 
wonderful  strokes,  but  they  do  them  with  astonishing 
ease  and  effectiveness. 

Nothing  can  be  more  profitable  to  a  young  player 
than  to  study  these  players.  Mr.  Buckmaster  plays 
often,  Captain  Renton  less  than  he  did,  while  I  fear 
Mr.  Rawlinson,  seduced  by  motors,  gives  to  petrol 
what  was  meant  for  polo. 

All  this  preliminary  practice  needs  much  pains 
and  time,  but  neither  is  wasted  if  spent  in  a  thorough 
grounding  in  the  elements  of  this  or  any  other  game. 
What  the  tub  pair  is  to  the  university  oarsman,  or 
practice  at  the  net  is  to  the  cricketer,  that  the  wooden 
horse  and  the  old  pony  at  slow  paces  are  to  the  polo 
player.  Further,  on  the  practice  ground  goals 
should  always  be  put  up,  and  the  beginner  from  the 
first  accustom  himself  to  register  in  his  mind  his 
relative  position  to  them.  The  goal  is  the  point  to 
which  he  should  always  be  making,  and  he  should 
be  able  to  estimate  almost  unconsciously  his  position 
relative  to  the  posts.  So,  too,  all  the  practice  strokes 
should  be  regulated  as  though  when  going  forward 
the  goal  was  his  object. 

Another  very  useful  elementary  practice  is  goal- 
hitting.  The  ball  should  be  aimed  at  the  space 
between  the  posts  at  varying  distances,  from  say  five 
up  to  thirty  yards.  Once  having  shot  at  the  goal  the 
young  polo  player  should  never  accept  defeat,  but 
go  on  firing  from  the  same  point  or  thereabouts 
until  he  has  sent  the  ball  through  the  posts.  While 
practice  is  valuable  it  should  not  be  too  much  pro- 


1 64        POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

longed.  Stale  and  slovenly  strokes  are  worse  than 
none  at  all,  and  as  soon  as  the  player  is  tired  he 
should  leave  off.  This  I  think  applies  to  every 
form  of  practice  except  the  near-side  stroke  from  the 
wooden  horse,  which  should  not  be  given  up  until 
the  player  has  struck  the  ball  to  his  satisfaction  a 
given  number  of  times.  Here  success  depends  on 
the  flexibility  of  the  muscles,  and  the  combination  of 
this  with  balance  on  the  seat  and  a  true  aim  at  the 
ball.  Constant  repetition  is  the  only  way  to  obtain 
them.  I  need  hardly  point  out  that  if  two  players 
are  neighbours  there  is  great  benefit  in  practising 
together  sometimes.  But  I  am  inclined  to  think 
that  solitary  practice  is  most  beneficial,  for  a  resolute 
man  hammering  away  at  difficult  strokes  is  likely 
to  be  more  successful  by  himself  than  in  company 
with  others. 

From  the  very  first,  however,  I  should  warn  the 
beginner  to  avoid  bad  habits.  There  is  the  very  bad 
habit  to  be  seen  in  many  otherwise  excellent  players 
of  dwelling  on  a  stroke.  I  wonder  how  many  goals 
have  been  lost  by  this.  A  smart  adversary  just  has 
time  to  crook  the  stick  during  that  momentary  pause 
and  the  chance  is  lost.  The  other  fault  to  which  I 
refer  is  that  of  snatching  at  or  pulling  the  bridle. 
The  best  plan  is  when  at  practice  to  hook  one  finger 
in  the  breastplate  of  the  standing  martingale  so  as 
to  keep  the  left  hand  in  the  the  right  place.  There 
are  some  minor  hints  that  suggest  themselves  to  me 
as  I  close  this  chapter,  and  the  first  is  that  while  the 
length    of  the  polo   stick    is   best  found  from   the 


ELEMENTARY  POLO  165 

pony's  back,  and  is  generally  about  as  long  as  will 
enable  you  to  swing  the  stick  without  touching  the 
ground,  the  weight  is  best  tested  on  the  wooden 
horse.  I  have  suggested  that  a  heavy  stick  is  an  advan- 
tage and  within  certain  limits  one  rather  short  than 
long.  But  the  weight  and  the  length  are  regulated 
by  the  fact  that  we  have  to  hit  near-side  strokes.  It 
is  evident  that  if  we  only  struck  the  ball  from  the 
off  side  and  forward  the  stick  might  be  shorter  and 
heavier  than  could  be  used  now.  Therefore  the 
weight  and  length  must  be  such  that  the  stick  can  be 
used  freely  on  the  near  as  well  as  the  off  side.  Thus 
with  horsemanship  improved  and  a  fair  facility  at  the 
primary  and  secondary  strokes,  the  beginner  may 
think  of  taking  his  place  in  a  match. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


TOURNAMENT    POLO    AND    TEAM-PLAY 


When  we  come  to  consider  the  principles  of  polo 
for  advanced  players  we  are  at  once  struck  by  the 
change  that  has  passed  over  the  methods  of  play, 
since  the  days  when  the  counsel  given  to  beginners 
was  "ride  hard,  hit  hard,  and  keep  your  temper." 
The  practical  effect  of  this  was  that  the  game  of 
polo  existed  for  the  benefit  of  brilliant  No.  2 
players.  It  was  in  that  position  that  the  hard  rider 
and  hard  hitter  shone  most,  and  the  early  ideas 
of  combination  consisted  in  making  things  easy  for 
No.  2.  No.  I  cleared  the  way  for  him.  If  No.  i 
was  not  actually  sent  into  the  game  without  a 
stick,  yet  he  was  discouraged  from  hitting  the  ball, 
while  Nos.  3  and  4  served  the  ball  up  to  the  fortunate 
youth  at  No.  2.  The  first  team  to  treat  No.  i  as  a 
man  and  a  brother  was  the  1 3  th  Hussars,  and  they 

166 


TOURNAMENT  AND  TEAM-PLAY   167 

were  also  among  the  first  to  show  us  the  value  of 
strong  back  play.  We  have  seen  the  No.  4  of  our 
polo  teams  rise  from  a  goalkeeper  into  the  most 
useful  and  important  member  of  the  team.  We  find 
him  now  riding  close  up  to  the  game  and  going  on 
with  the  ball  when  opportunity  offers. 

The  best  players  of  a  few  years  ago  were,  with  a 
few  exceptions,  forwards — Mr.  James  Peat  (i  and  2), 
the  late  Colonel  Le  Gallais  (2),  Mr.  Gerald  Hardy 
(i),  Lord  Southampton  (2),  Colonel  Malcolm  Little 
(i  and  2)  and  Mr.  A.  Rawlinson  (i  and  2).     Now 
almost  all  our  finest  players  are  "  backs.''    There  was, 
about  1895,  a  reaction  against  the  predominance  of 
the  brilliant  No.  2,  and  Mr.  Moray  Brown  in  theory, 
and  the  13  th  Hussars  and  Durham  Light  Infantry 
in    practice,  showed  us   the   value  of  combination. 
Everyone  then  tried  hard  to  keep  in  his  appointed 
place,   and  the  polo    player's  motto    became   "ride 
hard,  hit  hard,  but  keep  your  place."     All  the  books 
on  polo  described  in  detail  the  duties  of  each  player 
in  his  place.     Combination  and  order  in  polo  were 
laid  down  as  first  principles  of  success.     Then  it  was 
seen  that  combination  might  in  some  cases  lead  to 
sticky  play,   and  that   it   needed  in  practice   to  be 
qualified  by  flexibility.     Thus  it  is  no  longer  possible 
in  writing  of  the  game  of  polo  to  divide  out  the 
duties  as  we  used  to  do.     We  can  no  longer  take  the 
four  players  in  order  and  lay  down  the  functions  of 
Nos.  I,  2,  3,  4,  in  any  hard-and-fast  way.     A  polo 
side  in  our  modern  English  game  has  practically  only 
two  divisions,  two  forwards  and  two  backs. 


1 68        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

In  first-class  tournament  polo  we  have  travelled 
a  very  long  way  from  the  days  when  the  rest  of  the 
side  existed  for  the  sake  of  No.  2.  That  player  and 
No.  I  are  nowadays  practically  interchangeable,  and 
either  of  them  hits  the  ball  or  rides  off  the  opposing 
No.  3  or  back  as  circumstances  may  require. 

An  additional  obligation  is  now  laid  on  for- 
ward players.  They  must  not  involve  their  side 
in  the  penalties  for  a  foul.  In  the  same  way,  though 
not  to  the  same  extent,  Nos.  3  and  4  must  be  inter- 
changeable. The  tendency  is  for  back  to  become 
the  most  important  position.  The  modern  rules 
favour  him,  and  in  the  clearer  perception  we  now 
have  that  in  polo  as  in  war  the  true  defence  of  our 
own  position  is  to  attack  the  adversary,  the  back 
rides  nearer  to  the  game  than  he  used  to  do,  and 
goes  up  more  and  more  frequently  with  the  ball. 
He  is  in  fact  often  the  leader  of  the  attack  on  the 
goal  of  the  other  side.  Back  will  in  the  course  of  an 
ordinary  game  have  more  chances  at  the  ball  than 
any  one  else.  As  the  increase  of  skill  in  passing 
becomes  more  and  more  notable,  the  value  of  pos- 
session of  the  ball  becomes  greater,  since  if  you 
once  lose  it  you  may  not  be  able  to  regain  it. 
Thus  we  can  see  that  when  the  No.  4  having  met 
the  ball  as  it  went  back  to  the  goal,  is  coming  up 
into  the  game  at  a  gallop  and  hitting  well,  it  would 
be  the  wiser  plan  for  the  three  men  in  front  to  devote 
themselves  to  clearing  the  way  for  him. 

A  little  time  ago  the  No.  3  was  generally  the  best 
player  in  the  team.    Now  I  think  there  can  be  no  doubt 


TOURNAMENT  AND  TEAM-PLAY    169 

that  the  most  skilful  player  should  go  back  unless 
he  is  a  weak  hitter.  If  the  best  man  in  the  team  is 
No.  3  then  No.  4  must  try  to  pass  the  ball  to  him 
and  run  the  chance  of  losing  possession  in  doing  so, 
whereas  it  is  plain  that  the  method  of  attack  by 
which  No.  4  comes  up  into  the  game  and  the  others 
clear  his  way,  is  at  once  the  simplest  and  most 
effective.  But  while  the  surest  and  hardest  hitter 
should  go  back,  the  most  trustworthy  and  loyal 
player,  the  man  who  plays  invariably  for  his  side, 
should  be  at  No.  3.  Within  certain  limits  his 
character  is  more  important  than  his  skill.  For  he 
has  to  drop  back  or  go  forward  as  the  case  may 
require,  in  order  to  strengthen  and  sometimes  relieve 
his  back  or  support  and  encourage  the  forwards. 
Thus  we  see  that  in  first-class  polo  the  places  in  a 
strict  sense  are,  like  Euclid's  definitions,  only  a 
theoretical  foundation  to  base  our  tactics  on. 

The  places  at  polo  then  are  the  foundation  of  the 
modern  game.  There  are,  on  every  side,  four  men 
whose  duties  are  as  follows  : — No.  i,  mounted  on  a 
fast  and  handy  pony,  is  supposed  to  watch  the  No.  4 
of  the  opposite  side,  to  clear  the  way  for  his  own 
team  by  riding  off  the  opposing  back,  and,  while 
doing  this  with  energy,  not  to  commit  his  side  to  a 
foul  by  unnecessary  violence  and  not  to  allow  himself 
to  be  put  offside.  But  No.  i,  though  he  may  not 
always  find  it  his  primary  duty  to  hit  the  ball,  is  on 
no  account  to  be  so  intent  on  worrying  the  opposing 
back  as  to  neglect  the  favourable  opportunities  that 
will  come  in  his  way,  not  only  of  hitting  the  ball 


lyo        POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

towards,  but  often  through  the  goal-posts.  No.  i 
should  be  a  sure  striker  at  the  goal-posts.  He  will 
have  to  make  up  his  mind  often  between  conflicting 
duties,  and  decide  for  himself  whether  it  is  more 
necessary  that  he  should  be  clearing  the  way  or 
hitting  the  ball.  For  this  no  rules  can  be  laid  down, 
but  if  his  No.  2  shouts  "  leave  it,"  he  should  do  so 
at  once,  as  the  responsibility  rests  now  on  No.  2,  who 
by  saying  "  leave  it "  has  expressed  his  belief  that  he 
can  either  make  a  goal  himself,  or  so  improve  the 
position  of  the  ball  with  reference  to  the  goal-posts 
that  a  score  becomes  more  likely  than  it  would  have 
been  had  No.  i  gone  on  striking.  Thus  to  hit  or 
not  to  hit,  to  ride  off  or  not  to  ride  off,  is  a  balance 
of  probabilities  which  No.  i  has  to  be  weighing  in 
his  own  mind  continually.  There  is  no  absolute  rule, 
since  the  decision  must  depend  on  the  relative  posi- 
tion of  the  players,  on  his  confidence  in  his  own  skill, 
and  the  pace,  courage,  and  handiness  of  his  pony. 
Polo  is  so  quick  a  game,  so  rapid  in  all  its  changes, 
that  every  player  has  to  think  for  himself.  The 
point  to  be  considered  is  what  is  best  for  the  side. 
If  all  players  had  equal  skill,  this  point  would  be 
decided  absolutely  by  the  position  of  the  players  or  of 
the  ball.  But  the  skill  of  players  varies  very  much, 
and  it  is  therefore  clearly  desirable,  as  a  general  prin- 
ciple, that  the  best  player  in  a  team  should  have 
possession  of  the  ball  whenever  possible.  Thus,  if 
No.  I  is  a  sure  and  ready  striker,  it  is  better  for  him 
to  take  his  opportunities,  but  if  No.  2  is  the  better 
man,  then  probably  it  would  be  wiser  to  leave  the  ball 


TOURNAMENT  AND  TEAM-PLAY  171 

and  to  ride  off  the  man  in  front.  A  man  who  can  ride 
off  effectively  is  in  reahty  less  common  than  an 
average  hitter,  since  riding  off  demands  a  combina- 
tion of  courage,  horsemanship,  and  handy  ponies  not 
found  every  day.  In  attack  No.  i  may  have  many 
chances,  in  defence  the  ball  is  going  away  from  him  ; 
but  a  clever  No.  i  can  now  shadow  the  opposite  back 
most  effectively  and  prevent  many  a  successful  back- 
hander, or  hinder  his  opposing  No.  4  from  placing  or 
meeting  the  ball. 

No.  2  is  a  player  whose  actions  in  the  game 
must  be  governed  by  his  knowledge  of  his  pony*s 
capacities.  But  his  chief  value,  generally  speaking, 
is  in  attack.  When  the  goal  is  open  to  him  and 
he  has  possession  of  the  ball,  he  should  make  his 
way  to  the  goal  as  fast  as  possible.  That  is  not 
always  as  fast  as  the  pony  can  go,  but  as  hard  as  he 
can  gallop  without  letting  his  pony  out  of  his  hand. 
No.  2  wants  fast  ponies  because  he  needs  to  be  able 
to  go  faster  than  the  other  players  when  his  pony  is 
actually,  perhaps,  at  not  more  than  three-quarter 
speed.  If  the  pony  is  well  in  hand  he  will  be  able  to 
regain  control  of  the  ball  if  it  begins  to  bump  and 
twist.  It  may  be  laid  down  that  no  man  who  has 
not  perfect  control  of  his  pony  can  have  control  of 
the  ball.  Horsemanship,  knowledge  of  pace,  and  a 
delicate  touch  on  the  pony's  mouth  have  a  great  deal 
to  do  with  control  of  the  ball.  Mere  hard,  wild 
hitting  will  not  do  his  side  much  good.  There  are 
two  points  which  No.  2  has  to  keep  before  him 
always  :  first,  Can  I  take  the  responsibility  of  asking 


172        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

No.  I  to  "  leave  it "  for  me  ?  or  second,  Would  it  be 
better  for  me  to  ride  on  to  the  No.  3  or  No.  4  and 
leave  my  No.  i  or  No.  3  to  go  on  with  the  ball  ? 
If  he  is  a  horseman  and  has  control  of  the  ball,* 
No.  2's  great  quality  is  dash.  It  is  very  pretty  to  see 
a  first-rate  No.  2,  e.g.  Mr.  G.  A.  Miller,  pick  the  ball 
up  at  a  gallop  or  literally  snatch  it  out  of  a  scrimmage, 
galloping  hard  all  the  time,  and  reaching  away  clear  of 
the  game  with  the  ball  flying  in  front  of  him,  now 
hitting  now  steadying,  and  at  last  with  one  neat  turn 
of  the  wrist  "  readying  "  the  ball  for  the  final  stroke 
that  shall  send  it  through  the  posts. 

The  same  quality  that  is  dash  in  attack  is  quick- 
ness in  defence.  There  is  plenty  then  for  No.  2  to  do. 
He  must  be  ready  to  turn  at  once  if  No.  3  serves  the 
ball  up  to  him,  and  to  pounce  on  it  and  go  away,  or 
he  must  be  equally  keen  to  stop  the  No.  3  of  the 
opposite  side  from  serving  the  ball  to  his  forwards. 
No.  2  is  never  off  the  strain.  One  of  the  secrets 
of  his  usefulness  is  a  close  unfailing  attention  to  the 
game  in  all  its  phases,  and  a  knowledge  of  the 
position  of  the  ball  and  the  whereabouts  of  the  goal- 
posts relatively  to  his  own  position.  First-rate  No.  2 
players  can  never  be  very  common.  Good  ponies, 
fine  horsemanship,  and  unremitting  attention  to  the 
business  in  hand,  are  not  always,  perhaps  not  often, 
combined  in  the  same  man. 

No.  3  is  a  player  who  should  combine  the  greatest 
knowledge  of  the  game  and  its  tactics  with  skill  that 
can  be  relied  upon.  He  may  be  called  upon  to  take 
the  place  of  the  back  and  act  on  the  defensive  when 


TOURNAMENT  AND  TEAM-PLAY  173 

that  player  goes  up  into  the  game.  If  the  attack  led 
by  No.  4  fails,  there  is  a  critical  moment  for  No.  3, 
for,  if  he  fails  to  reach  the  ball,  his  opponents  may 
sweep  down  on  his  undefended  goal.  No.  3  must 
be  accurate  and  ready  at  backhanders  on  near-  and 
ofF-sides.  At  other  times  he  must  be  ready,  as  Captain 
Neil  Haig  puts  it,  to  feed  his  forwards,  keeping  the 
ball  up  to  them  and  so  placing  it  that  his  No.  2  shall 
have  a  chance  to  gallop  away  with  it.  His  ponies 
must  be  handy,  turning  and  twisting  readily,  and  the 
position  of  No.  3  is  such  that  he  will  not  often  have 
to  gallop  far  in  one  direction.  Assuming,  as  we  may 
do,  that'in  a  tournament  No.  3  is  a  player  of  experi- 
ence and  sufficient  adroitness,  his  mental  qualities  of 
judgment,  loyalty,  and  unselfishness  are  the  most 
important  qualifications  for  the  place.  He  is  often 
the  captain,  and  not  seldom  the  trainer  of  the  team. 
He  will  not,  perhaps,  have  as  much  applause  as  his 
fellows,  but  he  will,  if  efficient,  never  find  himself  left 
out  when  first-class  polo  is  to  be  played.  A  first-rate 
No.  3  can  almost  carry  a  moderate  team  to  victory 
in  spite  of  themselves. 

No.  4  is  now  the  most  important  place  in  the  team. 
The  rules  favour  him,  his  men  depend  on  him,  and  the 
brunt  of  a  hard  match  often  rests  on  him.  It  is  of 
all  things  necessary  to  the  moral  force  of  a  team  that 
they  should  have  confidence  in  their  No.  4.  Directly 
the  forwards  distrust  the  back,  as  soon  as  they  find 
he  is  allowing  the  ball  to  go  past  him,  they  are  sure 
to  go  to  pieces.  Many  a  match  has  been  won  because 
the  back  has  kept  his  goal  like  a  rock,  while  the 


174        POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

opposite  side  have  worn  out  their  strength  and 
splintered  their  courage  in  attack.  Then  at  last 
when  the  tired  adversaries  lose  heart,  and  their  com- 
bination breaks,  No.  4  triumphantly  turns  defence 
into  attack,  and  goal  after  goal  is  scored  up  to  his 
side.  So  have  we  seen  many  a  game  won  after  the 
score  had  been  adverse  for  forty  minutes.  The 
peculiar  mixture  of  temper,  accuracy,  and  quickness 
that  are  the  qualities  of  a  back,  luckily  rather  improve 
with  age,  and  when  long  practice  at  polo  has  given 
him  a  just  confidence  in  his  own  skill.  Like  No.  3 
he  needs  the  handiest  ponies,  and  quickness 'in  striking 
off  is  most  desirable  for  them. 

He  should  be  an  adroit  horseman,  and  able  to 
handle  his  pony  so  as  to  neutrahse  the  riding  off 
tactics  of  No.  i,  and  to  put  that  player  offside  by  a 
judicious  check  of  his  bridle.  In  backhanders  he 
must  be  perfect,  not  only  those  sharp  strong  clean 
blows  that  send  the  ball  back,  but  backhanders 
delivered  with  such  judgment  that  he  can  place  the 
ball  where  he  wishes. 

It  is  worse  than  useless,  at  modern  polo,  to  drive 
the  ball  right  back  among  the  enemy  ;  if  they  gain 
possession,  a  team  clever  at  passing  may  never  let  the 
ball  go  till  they  have  scored.  No.  4  must  know 
when  to  backhand  his  ball,  and  when  to  turn  with  it, 
and  go  right  up.  If  he  is,  as  he  ought  to  be,  the 
surest  hitter  of  his  side,  and  can  depend  on  his 
forwards,  he  will  probably  go  right  up  into  the  game, 
perhaps  through  it,  and  find  himself  clear  with  at 
least    one    chance   for  the  goal.     If  he    has  a  just 


TOURNAMENT  AND  TEAM-PLAY   175 

confidence  in  himself,  when  his  own  side  are  attacking 
he  should  not  lie  too  far  back,  but  sufficiently  near 
to  be  able  to  meet  the  ball  and  send  it  forward  to  his 
own  men  as  often  as  it  comes  back.  Even  in  defence 
No.  4  should  not  be  too  far  back,  as  if  the  ball  fails 
to  come  up  to  him,  the  man  behind  may  be  able  to 
hit  it  past  him,  and  go  on  in  possession  to  an  un- 
defended goal.  He  has  often  to  reckon  with  lighter 
weights  and  faster  ponies  than  his  own,  coming  at 
full  stretch  before  even  the  sharpest  of  ponies  can 
have  started.  This  is  the  outline  of  the  theory  of 
places  at  polo,  and  we  see  that  it  may  be  resolved 
into  this,  that  given  the  amount  of  skill  that  entitles 
a  man  to  play  at  polo  in  good  company  at  all,  No.  i 
is  chosen  for  his  discretion,  No.  2  for  his  dash.  No.  3 
for  his  resourcefulness,  and  No.  4  for  self-confidence 
— and  if  the  self-confidence  is  misplaced,  then  we  do 
not  ask  him  again.  Thus  we  see  that  the  theory  of 
polo  is  that  there  are  four  places  with  special  duties 
assigned  to  each. 

Yet  very  seldom  in  practice  are  all  the  four  men  in 
their  own  places  at  polo.  It  would  be  impossible  to 
play  our  modern  game  unless  the  theory  of  places 
and  their  functions  had  been  invented  and  elaborated. 
Nor  is  a  player  ever  quite  independent  of  his  place ; 
the  duty  of  falling  into  it  as  opportunity  offers  keeps 
the  team  orderly.  There  can  be  no  good  polo 
unless  the  men  have  first  learned  to  make  keeping 
their  places  an  object.  This  is  true,  no  doubt,  but 
the  object  of  obedience  to  such  rules  as  those  of 
keeping  your  place  is  to  enable  you  to  disregard  them 


176        POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

at  the  right  moment.  Without  the  places  the  game 
would  be  a  scramble,  with  every  man  making  his 
place  his  first  object  the  game  would  be  sticky  ;  and 
polo,  if  it  is  to  hold  its  own,  must  always  be  now,  as 
it  has  been  at  any  time  these  two  thousand  years,  a 
game  of  pace,  dash,  and  resolution.  We  see,  how- 
ever, that  the  practical  result  of  recent  changes  has 
been  to  increase  the  importance  of  the  *'  back.'' 
The  severer  penalties,  the  better  umpiring,  and 
perhaps  the  fact  that  our  very  best  players  are 
verging  on  middle  life,  have  all  tended  to  make  the 
No.  4  the  leading  man  in  the  team.  Another  cause 
which  has  led  to  the  same  result  is  the  increasing 
difficulty  of  finding  effective  No.  i  players,  which  is 
the  reason  in  some  degree  for  the  practical  inter- 
changeability  of  Nos.  I  and  2  at  the  present  time. 

There  are  thus  two  forwards  who  are  interchange- 
able, each  one  doing  with  all  his  might  whatever  his 
hand  finds  to  do,  wherever  he  may  be  placed.  No 
first-class  team  would  put  any  one  player  always  in 
that  place,  except  in  first-class  matches,  inasmuch  as 
continual  No.  i  play  spoils  any  pony  in  time,  and 
the  No.  I  must  be  well  mounted.  Probably  the 
right  place  in  practice  games  and  second-class  matches 
is  to  put  the  usual  No.  i  at  No.  3,  and  send  the 
No.  3  to  No.  I.  The  forwards  are  dependent  on 
the  support  of  No.  3  in  attack,  and  he  will  be  none 
the  worse  for  keeping  in  practical  touch  with  the 
duties  of  forward,  while  No.  i  will  be  steadied  and 
his  ponies  benefited  by  practice  at  No.  3.  v; 

This  would  be  equally  true  of  No.  2  and  No.  4, 


"5 


TOURNAMENT  AND  TEAM-PLAY   177 

inasmuch  as  the  former  player  must  often  in  modern 
polo  be  in  No.  i  's  place.  He  should  t^  placed  back 
in  practice  games,  and  No.  4  sent  forward.  The 
last  named  is  often  better  for  a  little  sharpening 
up.  The  objection  to  this  latter  plan  is  that  a  team 
should  generally  play  with  the  same  No.  4,  so  much 
depends  on  the  confidence  the  other  players  feel  in 
their  "  back." 

The  days  have  long  gone  by  when  back  was 
chiefly  a  goalkeeper.  He  often  leads  the  attack, 
and  ultimately  the  success  of  the  side  depends  on  his 
skill  in  placing,  and  his  rapidity  and  strength  in 
hitting  backhanders.  The  last  point  is  important, 
and  it  cannot  be  denied  that  backs  have  a  tendency 
to  become  slow  and  to  dwell  on  their  strokes,  than 
which  there  is  no  more  fatal  fault.  It  is  not  necessary 
to  be  slow  because  you  are  sure.  It  is  the  quick 
backs  like  Mr.  Buckmaster  and  Mr.  L.  Waterbury, 
Mr.  W.  J.  Drybrough,  Captain  Renton,  Major- 
General  Rimington,  and  Major  Maclaren  who  win 
matches  for  their  teams. 

There  is  one  point  about  polo  that  we  must  not 
forget.  This  is  that  in  whatever  position  you  are, 
the  strokes  are  the  same,  therefore  as  far  as  practice 
on  the  ball  is  concerned,  a  man  is  gaining  as  much 
experience  in  one  place  as  another.  It  is  not  like 
putting  a  bowler  on  to  bat,  or  even  changing  a  man 
from  the  bow  to  the  stroke  side  in  an  eight. 

Thus  we  can  see  that  combination,  or  as  the 
Americans  put  it  in  their  neat  way,  "  team-play,"  is 
a  most  advisable  thing.     But  it  in  no  way  diminishes 


178        POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

the  value  of  individual  skill.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
the  most  perfect  combination  serves  a  team  very  little 
unless  they  have  one  brilliant  player  among  them  as 
a  sort  of  pivot  for  the  team  to  turn  on,  and  as  a  bond 
of  union.  Combination  presupposes  confidence,  and 
this  is  greatly  increased  if  all  are  sure  of  the  skill  of 
at  least  one  player. 

In  several  of  the  teams  arranged  for  our  matches 
against  the  American  players,  the  men  had  com- 
bination without  confidence,  and  were  defeated 
accordingly.  The  value  of  confidence  is  shown  by 
the  extraordinary  success  of  family  teams.  The 
Peats,  the  Waterburys,  the  Millers,  the  Nickalls,  the 
Gilbeys,  the  Golds,  the  Grenfells,  the  de  Las  Casas, 
all  occur  to  us  without  a  minute's  hesitation.  The 
real  secret  of  their  success  of  course  lies  not  in  the 
relationship,  but  in  the  fact  of  the  opportunities  of 
practice  together,  and  the  Rugby  teams  are  as  effective 
with  one  or  two  brothers  in  it,  because  the  members 
practise  together  continually,  and  thoroughly  under- 
stand each  other's  play.  Thus  Rugby  has  in  turn 
lost  the  services  of  the  late  Mr.  J.  Drybrough,  of 
Captain  Gordon  Renton,  of  Mr.  Freake,  and  are  still 
able  to  hold  their  own  in  first-class  polo,  because  of 
the  admirable  confidence  in,  and  knowledge  of,  each 
other's  play  that  exists. 

Combination  or  team-play  is  of  two  kinds.  If 
the  members  of  a  team  are  fairly  equal  in  point  of 
skill,  the  main  object  is  so  to  pass  the  ball  from  one 
to  another,  that  it  shall  be  as  much  as  possible  in  the 
possession  of  the  side.     If  we  may  put  it  so,  a  well- 


TOURNAMENT  AND  TEAM-PLAY  179 

disciplined  side  wins  because  they  allow  their  adver- 
saries to  hit  the  ball  so  seldom,  rather  than  because 
they  are  better  strikers,  or  it  may  be  even  as  good. 

Combination,  however,  has  its  limits,  as  we  can 
see.  To  bring  it  to  perfection  it  ought  to  be  extended 
to  the  ponies  as  well  as  to  the  men.  The  men  ought 
to  ride  ponies  which  suit  them  exactly,  and  ponies  that 
are  suitable  to  the  places  they  are  required  for.  But 
as  a  rule  men  must  ride  the  animals  they  have. 
Only  in  a  regiment  or  a  county  club  like  Rugby  is 
it  possible  to  pick  and  choose  the  ponies  in  this  way. 
Perfect  combination  depends  partly  on  handy  ponies, 
and  strictly  speaking  a  regimental  team  being  under 
control  and  having  its  ponies  in  common  to  a  certain 
extent,  ought  to  be  able  to  beat  any  team  that  could 
be  put  into  the  field.  But  they  cannot  do  so  because 
a  team  of  picked  men  who  have  seldom  or  never 
played  together  before,  would  beat  the  finest  com- 
bination in  the  world  if  the  former  were  individually 
first-class  players.  An  instance  of  this  was  seen  in 
Dublin  in  1895,  when  the  Freebooters,  a  scratch 
team,  brought  together  for  the  occasion,  beat  the 
most  beautifully  drilled  regimental  team  that  has  ever 
been  seen  on  a  polo  ground  in  England,  that  of  the 
13th  Hussars,  by  13  goals  to  2.  If  we  could  picture 
a  team  perfect  in  tactics  and  combination,  but 
moderate  hitters,  and  suppose  too  that  all  the  men 
were  of  equally  good  form  and  effective  in  any 
position,  so  that  the  team  was  practically  interchange- 
able, I  would  venture  to  say  that  a  scratch  team 
which  included  such  players  as  Mr.  Buckmaster,  Mr. 


i8o         POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Rawlinson,    Mr.    George    Miller,    Mr.    F.    Freake, 
would  beat  them  as  often  as  they  played  together. 

It  is  quite  true  that  combination  at  polo  is  a  great 
matter,  but  it  is  by  no  means  everything.  Such  play 
in  second-class  polo  may  easily  become  niggling  and 
pottering.  There  will  at  times  be  some  sparring  to 
obtain  possession  of  the  ball,  but  polo  must  in  the 
long  run  always  be  a  free,  open,  hard-hitting,  hard- 
galloping  game.  Sooner  or  later  some  one  must 
make  a  run,  and  probably  the  side  that  has  a  man 
who  can  make  brilliant  runs  and  hit  a  fair  proportion 
of  goals  at  the  end  of  them  will  win  in  the  end. 

I  look  with  suspicion  in  the  interests  of  polo  on 
all  attempts  to  reduce  the  element  of  dash  and  pace 
or  chance,  and,  if  any  one  likes  to  put  it  so,  the 
substitution  of  the  skill  of  a  professional  for  the  dash 
of  the  soldier.  I  am  far  from  saying  that  this  danger 
is  near,  but  I  think  I  see  the  tendency  in  the  multi- 
plication and  increase  of  the  severity  of  penalties. 
Even  now  we  must  remember  that  both  in  India  and 
America  the  game  is  probably  faster  and  freer  than 
it  is  with  us.  But  I  must  not  be  misunderstood  to 
undervalue  combination  ;  if  you  cannot  have  brilliant 
play  it  is  an  excellent  thing.  The  majority  of 
players  will  always  be  men  of  moderate  skill,  and  in 
close  combination  and  perfect  loyalty  to  their  side  is 
their  best  chance  of  playing  good  polo.  And  after 
all,  perhaps  it  is  not  necessary  that  we  should  disturb 
ourselves.  Human  nature  remains  what  it  was, 
write  we  never  so  many  books,  and  a  man  finding 
himself  on  a  fast  pony,  and  with  a  clear  ground  and 


TOURNAMENT  AND  TEAM-PLAY  i8i 

fair  confidence  in  his  own  skill,  will  contrive  to  gallop 
away  with  the  ball  when  he  sees  the  chance,  nay,  will 
even  sometimes  wait  and  hover  a  little  for  opportuni- 
ties, or  strive  to  make  them  if  they  do  not  occur. 

The  general  effect  then  of  the  changes  that  are 
coming  over  English  polo  is  to  restrain  the  forward 
and  stimulate  and  encourage  the  back  play.  While  I 
am  inclined  to  think  that  in  India  and  in  America 
the  attack  is  still  stronger  than  the  defence,  in 
England  the  reverse  of  this  is  the  case.  For  every- 
thing in  modern  tournament  polo  turns  on  the 
defence.  When  the  defence  breaks  down  the  game 
is  lost.  But  the  best  defence  of  all  is  to  keep  the 
game  near  the  adversaries'  goal.  Therefore  the 
modern  back  needs  to  be  able  to 

(i)  meet  the  ball  certainly, 

(2)  to  place  the  ball  accurately, 

(3)  and  to  be  quick. 

The  besetting  failing  of  No.  4  players,  as  we  have 
seen,  is  that  they  become  slow  and  dwell  on  their 
strokes.  If  a  steady  and  sure  back  has  this  failing 
he  must  keep  farther  out  of  the  game  than  he  other- 
wise would.  It  is  certainly  good  tactics  for  a  No.  4 
to  keep  well  up  with  the  game  if  he  is  quick,  and  it 
is  perhaps  hardly  needful  to  point  out  that  No.  4 
ponies  must  be  sharp  to  turn  and  quick  to  start.  It 
is  far  more  important  that  the  ponies  ridden  by  No.  4 
should  have  these  qualities  than  that  they  should 
be  extraordinarily  fast.  Also  a  back  must  be  a 
strong  hitter.  The  strong  hitters  generally  make  the 
best  backs.     Every  first-class  back  of  our  time  has 


1 82        POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

been  a  tall  man  with  a  long  reach,  except  Major 
Maclaren.  The  late  Mr.  Drybrough,  Mr.  John 
Watson,  Captain  Marjoribanks,  General  Rimington, 
Mr.  Buckmaster  will  all  occur  to  every  reader  as 
instances  of  what  I  say.  A  weak  hitter  may  succeed 
for  a  time,  but  he  is  bound  to  be  beaten  in  the  end 
by  determined  forwards.  Weight  is  a  certain 
advantage  at  polo  both  to  the  man  and  the  pony,  and 
of  two  teams  that  were  fairly  equal  the  heavy  one 
would  be  the  more  likely  to  win.  It  is  quite  true,  of 
course,  that  the  Rugby  team  is  now  a  light  one. 
But  I  have  before  pointed  out  that  the  circumstances 
of  the  Rugby  team,  both  as  to  their  opportunities  for 
practice  and  their  choice  of  ponies,  are  quite  excep- 
tional. They  only,  among  polo  teams,  unite  the 
width  of  choice  of  a  civilian  with  the  advantages 
generally  peculiar  to  a  regiment^  team.  They  have 
always  had  moreover  at  least  one  superlatively  good 
player,  such  as  Captain  Renton,  the  late  Mr.  W.  J. 
Drybrough,  and  Mr.  George  Miller. 

The  ultimate  object  of  polo  is  to  hit  the  ball 
through  the  posts,  and  the  greater  the  certainty  with 
which  a  player  can  do  this  the  more  value  he  is  to  his 
side.  Again,  not  merely  the  control  of  the  ball, 
which  enables  the  player  to  hit  through  the  posts,  but 
the  hitting  power  by  which  he  makes  goals  from  a 
long  distance  off  is  most  valuable.  I  have  heard  it 
contended  that  hard  hitting  is  of  no  real  value  at  polo, 
and  this  is  so  far  true  that  if  a  player  cannot  hit  the 
ball  effectively  when  striking  hard,  he  had  better  not 
try  for  more  than  he  is  able.     But  if  other  things  are 


TOURNAMENT  AND  TEAM-PLAY   183 

equal  the  hard-hitting  teams  will  generally  win, 
always  provided  that  the  control  of  the  ball  is  not 
sacrificed  to  mere  strength  and  power.  Some  of  the 
great  players  who  are  noted  for  always  trying  to  hit 
a  goal  if  the  posts  are  open  and  within  distance  of  a 
shot,  do  not  appear  to  strike  hard,  but  they  neverthe- 
less make  the  ball  travel  far  and  fast.  Such  goal- 
hitters  have  been  Mr.  James  Peat,  Mr.  T.  Kennedy, 
Mr.  E.  Kenyon  Stow,  Captain  Gordon  Renton,  Mr. 
Jack  Drybrough,  Mr.  John  Watson,  and  Mr.  A. 
Rawlinson,  the  latter  probably  one  of  the  finest  and 
truest  hard  hitters  that  have  ever  been  seen  on  a  polo 
ground.  Mr.  Rawlinson  indeed  seems  to  reverse  the 
well-known  saying  of  the  old  coachman,  for  what 
others  do  by  artifice  he  sometimes  achieves  by 
strength.  Another  player  who  may  be  mentioned 
with  these  is  Major  Poore  of  the  7th  Hussars,  but 
he  is  seldom  seen  on  English  polo  grounds.  Hard 
hitting  tends  to  keep  a  game  fast,  and  polo  would 
inevitably  become  slow  if  once  players  began  to 
cease  to  put  enough  power  into  their  strokes.  Hard 
hitting  is  only  likely  to  be  successful  combined 
with  hard  galloping.  Indeed  I  think  the  former 
follows  almost  naturally  on  the  latter.  To  hit  hard 
and  yet  to  retain  control  of  the  ball  is  the  last  thing 
achieved  by  the  polo  player,  and  can  be  reached  in 
most  cases  only  by  the  most  careful  and  unremitting 
practice. 

In  the  same  way,  perfection  of  combination  can 
only  be  reached  by  practice,  as  we  may  see  clearly  by 
studying  the  methods  of  teams  like  Patiala,  Rugby, 


1 84        POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

the  Durham  Light  Infantry,  and  the  13th  Hussars, 
all  of  which  reached  their  excellence  in  passing  the 
ball  by  practice  together.  This  of  course  is  the  point 
where  many  good  teams  fall  short.  It  is  only  here 
and  there  that  men  have  the  opportunity  for  enough 
practice  together  to  reach  such  perfection  as  the  above 
named  teams  have  shown.  As  polo  clubs  increase 
it  will  become  more  difficult  to  gather  four  of  the 
best  players  in  one  team.  The  tournament  team  of 
the  future  will  be  rather  of  the  type  of  the  Old 
Cantabs,  Magpies,  and  other  similar  associations  of 
players  where  the  men  gather  under  the  leadership 
of  one  first-rate  player.  This  will  so  far  affect  the 
combination  that  the  most  effective  team  will  be  that 
which  gives  most  opportunities  to  the  great  player. 
This  will  bring  out  again  a  further  development,  the 
art  of  leading  a  team.  A  good  captain  is  as  valuable 
to  his  side  as  he  is  rare.  So  uncommon  are  the 
necessary  qualifications  that  most  sides  manage  to  do 
without  it. 

In  an  earlier  chapter  I  have  written  on  the  de- 
sirability of  individual  practice  in  elementary  polo. 
Constant  work  is  just  as  necessary  to  the  advanced 
player.  The  most  useful  strokes  at  polo  are  few,  as 
we  have  seen,  but  they  are  not  easy.  There  is  one 
that  the  player  must  in  these  days  add  to  the  funda- 
mental ones  mentioned  above.  This  belongs  to  the 
advanced  game  of  which  I  am  writing.  I  refer  to 
meeting  the  ball.  It  is  evident  that  if  we  can  stop  a 
ball  coming  towards  our  own  goal,  still  more  if  we 
can  send  it  back,  the  advantage  is  great.     There  is 


TOURNAMENT  AND  TEAM-PLAY  185 

no  doubt  a  risk,  but  this  is  much  diminished  by 
steady  practice.  Some  years  ago  few  men  tried  to 
meet  the  ball.  The  stroke  was  thought  to  be  too 
risky.  If  the  ball  went  past  you  while  you  were 
riding  in  the  other  direction,  it  was  plain  that  some 
one  of  the  adversaries  might  dash  past  and  find  the 
goal  open  to  his  attack.  But  with  increasing  skill 
and  practice  the  stroke  has  become  fairly  frequent,  and 
it  is  not  seldom  worth  the  much  diminished  risk 
which  attends  its  use  in  the  hands  of  a  strong  player. 
With  the  exception  of  Mr.  John  Watson,  who  has 
never  been  equalled  as  a  striker  of  backhanders, 
most  players  can  place  a  ball  with  more  certainty 
from  a  forward  than  a  back  stroke.  In  any  case 
this  stroke  should  be'  dihgently  practised  by  the 
advanced  player.  I  said  nothing  about  it  in  the 
chapter  on  elementary  polo  because  it  is  not  a 
beginner's  stroke.  This  is  a  stroke  which  can  be 
advantageously  practised  with  the  wooden  horse  which 
many  players  have,  and  which  is  provided  in  such 
clubs  as  Ranelagh  and  Roehampton. 

I  have  come  to  doubt  the  value  of  the  wooden 
horse  for  a  beginner.  But  for  a  more  advanced 
player  it  is  invaluable.  In  the  first  place,  a  man  in 
full  play  with  a  moderate  stud  of  good  ponies  cannot 
well  use  them  for  all  the  practice  he  requires.  And 
thus  the  wooden  horse  or  one  of  the  Withers  polo 
machines  is  very  useful.  I  am  inclined  to  think 
however,  that  the  ordinary  shapeless  block  on  four 
sticks  is  not  sufficient.  There  should  be  something 
to  represent  a  head  and  a  tail.     The  existence  on  the 


1 86        POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

real  animal  of  these  obstacles  to  freedom  of  use  of 
the  stick  certainly  affects  our  strokes,  and  we  are  apt 
on  the  wooden  horse  to  indulge  in  strokes  which 
would  be  quite  impossible  on  a  live  pony.  I  cannot 
help  thinking  that  it  is  the  lack  of  realism  in  the 
wooden  horse  that  occasions  it  to  be  less  useful  than 
it  might.  I  think,  too,  that  a  saddle  should  be  put 
on.  The  more  nearly  we  can  associate  the  conditions 
of  our  practice  to  the  reality  the  better.  The 
wooden  horse  is  after  all  a  substitute,  and  can  neither 
entirely  supply  the  place  of,  nor  fulfil  the  same  ends 
as,  practice  from  a  real  pony. 

There  is  one  point  more  in  tournament  play  too 
often  passed  over,  and  that  is,  condition  in  the  player. 
If  a  man  does  not  or  will  not  keep  himself  fit,  two 
things  must  happen  if  he  plays  in  first-class  polo, 
his  play  must  be  uncertain  and  he  will  injure  his 
health.  If  we  think  that  for  a  boat-race  which 
occupies  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  we  go  into  training  for 
four  or  five  weeks,  it  is  absurd  to  think  we  can  play 
a  polo  match  twice  a  week  without  some  care  of  our 
condition.  Polo  matches  take  an  hour,  and  every 
muscle  is  exercised,  the  strain  is  great  and  can  only 
be  met  by  careful  and  regular  diet  and  reasonably 
early  hours. 

If  then  we  sum  up  the  qualifications  needed  for 
tournament  polo  we  should  say  that  for  the  team  is 
needed — 

(i)  At  least  one  brilliant  player. 

(2)  Combination. 

(3)  Flexibility. 


TOURNAMENT  AND  TEAM-PLAY  187 

For  the  individual,  besides  a  certain  aptitude  for 
games  and  at  least  some  previous  training — 
(i)  Practice. 

(2)  First-rate  ponies. 

(3)  Good  condition. 

(4)  Even  temper. 

Fortunately  tournament  play  is  not  the  whole, 
perhaps  not  even  a  very  large  part  of  polo.  In  the 
very  nature  of  the  game  it  is  always  an  interesting  one 
to  play.  First-class  polo  demands  an  expenditure 
of  time  and  energy  that  not  all  men  have  to  give. 
But,  nevertheless,  tournament  polo  ought  to  be  the 
standard  of  every  game,  and  if  the  full  enjoyment  is 
to  be  gained,  every  one  must  do  his  very  best,  even  in 
a  members'  game.  One  of  the  strong  points  of  the 
ordinary  game  is  its  suitability  for  busy  men,  and  the 
fact  that  we  are  never  too  old  for  it  as  long  as  we 
can  ride  and  hit.  What  other  recreation  gives  the 
same  interest  and  an  equal  amount  of  exercise  in  so 
short  a  time  as  polo  ?  It  resembles  hunting  in  this, 
that  whether  in  the  first  flush  of  youth  or  in  maturer 
age,  it  is  always  delightful  and  never  palls. 


CHAPTER   IX 


UMPIRES    AND    REFEREES 


The  recent  revision  of  the  rules  of  polo  has  made  the 
umpire's  position  more  important  than  it  was,  and 
much  more  difficult.  Ten  years  ago  the  umpire 
in  England  had  no  power  to  act  unless  appealed  to, 
and  very  little  more  in  India.  Now  he  must  be 
ready  to  stop  the  game  if  he  thinks  the  play  is 
dangerous  or  unfair.  A  heavy  responsibility  rests  on 
the  umpire,  for  it  must  be  remembered  that  on  him 
depends  the  safety  of  the  players.  The  pace  and 
strain  of  modern  polo  is  great.  Play  may  easily 
become  foul  or  dangerous  in  the  excitement  of  the 
moment.  The  umpire  therefore  must  be  on  the 
watch  for  the  first  signs  of  danger.  But  while  he  is 
always  ready,  yet  he  should  interfere  as  little  as 
possible.     In  all  matches  it  is  irritating  to  the  players, 

i88 


UMPIRES  AND  REFEREES  189 

and  in  great  contests  to   the   spectators   as  well,  to 
have  the  game  stopped  unnecessarily. 

A  breach  of  the  rules  must  be  obvious  and 
flagrant  before  the  umpire  stops  the  game.  He 
should  of  his  own  accord  interfere  only  in  cases  of 
dangerous  or  unfair  play.  Thus  it  is  clear  that  the 
umpire  ought  to  pay  close  attention  to  the  game. 
In  order  to  be  able  to  do  this  he  must  have  keen 
sight  and  be  very  well  mounted.  An  umpire's  pony 
perhaps  need  not  be  very  fast,  but  it  ought  to  be  as 
handy  as  possible. 

If  an  umpire  is  appealed  to  he  must  make  up  his 
mind  at  once,  and  either  shout  "  go  on  "  or  blow  his 
whistle  without  the  least  delay.  Fouls  or  offside 
should  never  be  given  merely  because  they  are 
claimed.  The  umpire  himself  must  be  satisfied  that 
a  breach  of  the  rules  has  taken  place.  If  there  is  but 
one  umpire,  however,  he  must  use  his  judgment. 
That  he  cannot  see  everything  is  quite  plain,  and  he 
must  be  guided  by  many  considerations,  the  relative 
positions  of  the  teams,  and  the  character  of  the  man 
who  makes  the  claim.  For  this  reason  the  Indian  rules 
are  right  when  they  lay  down  that  an  umpire  should 
be  a  polo  player  on  the  active  list,  who  knows  the  men 
who  are  playing  and  can  act  accordingly.  Now  that 
penalties  are  numerous  and  severe,  an  umpire  ought 
to  be  careful  about  inflicting  them.  He  should  be 
reluctant  to  do  so.  In  theory  there  ought  to  be  much 
care  expended  on  the  choice  of  an  umpire.  In 
practice  it  is  necessary  to  take  the  man  who  will  act. 
There  is  an  increased  tendency  at  the  larger  clubs  for 


190        POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

the  polo  managers  to  act  as  umpires,  especially  where 
there  is  only  a  single  umpire  to  be  obtained.  This  is 
probably  the  best  arrangement.  No  one  knows  the 
players  better  than  the  polo  manager,  and  no  one 
has  so  much  opportunity  of  watching  their  play. 
While  he  is  umpiring  he  is  gaining  a  knowledge  of 
the  relative  form  of  the  men  which  will  be  exceedingly 
useful  to  him.  No  one  sees  a  game  better  than,  or 
indeed  half  as  well  as,  the  umpire.  The  polo  manager 
is  a  kind  of  official  umpire,  and  our  leading  managers 
have  all  the  qualifications  needed.  But  there  are 
times  when  it  is  undesirable  for  the  manager  to 
umpire.  Then  he  must  do  the  best  he  can  and  take 
any  man  who  is  willing  to  act.  This  often  depends 
upon  ponies,  for  an  umpire  will  need  at  least  two 
ponies  for  an  ordinary  match. 

There  are  three  kinds  of  men  who  should  be 
avoided  :  the  man  who  cannot  make  up  his  mind, 
the  man  who  is  always  interfering,  the  man  who  will 
give  his  reasons.  It  has  been  very  rightly  laid  down 
that  players  are  not  to  discuss  or  dispute  the  decisions 
of  the  umpire.  Such  arguments  over  the  rights  or 
wrongs  of  the  umpire's  judgment  are  unseemly,  and 
not  seldom  degenerate  into  disputes.  At  the  same 
time  an  umpire  must  recollect  that  the  matter  lies 
very  much  in  his  own  hands,  and  that  he  can  do 
much  to  keep  the  peace  by  remaining  judiciously 
reticent.  As  to  any  discussion  of  his  judgments  and 
decisions  which  may  take  place  after  the  game  is  over, 
he  must  remember  that  a  man  who  accepts  a  position 
of  the  kind  is,  and  must  be,  subject  to  criticism.     The 


UMPIRES  AND  REFEREES  191 

great  faults  of  umpires  as  a  rule  are  ignorance  of  the 
rules  of  the  game,  which,  however,  they  share  with  a 
great  many  players,  and  inattention  to  what  is  going 
on.  Some  umpires  are  never  near  enough  to  the 
game  to  see  clearly  what  is  happening.  Others  are 
never  in  the  right  place.  Many  umpires  become  so 
interested  in  the  game  that  they  forget  to  watch  the 
play  from  the  umpire's  point  of  view,  in  which  there 
should  of  course  be  a  certain  detachment.  On  the 
other  hand,  an  umpire  who  keeps  too  near  the  game 
is  always  in  the  way.  Therefore  an  umpire  must 
have  good  sight  as  well  as  something  of  that  trained 
power  of  observation  which  enables  a  man  not  only 
to  see  an  occurrence  but  to  apprehend  it  quickly. 
Polo  is  a  game  of  quick  happenings,  and  as  men 
become  more  skilled,  ponies  better  trained,  and 
grounds  more  level,  it  will  be  even  quicker  than  it 
is  now.  Thus  the  umpire  needs  to  be  a  man  of 
rapid  apprehension. 

But  it  may  be  said  that  in  all  this  we  have  been 
moving  too  fast.  Surely  it  might  be  objected  that 
the  first  thing  needful  is  for  the  umpire  to  know  and 
reflect  on  the  rules  and  to  understand  them.  That 
is  true,  of  course,  but  then  every  player  ought  to 
know  the  rules  of  the  game  he  takes  part  in.  The 
good  umpire  should  have  them  at  his  finger-tips. 
He  should  discuss  and  think  over  the  bearing  of  new 
rules  and  regulations  as  they  are  passed.  There  are 
certain  points  which  an  umpire  has  to  interpret  in 
the  rules.  The  definition  of  offside  for  example  is 
one  about  which   there  is  a  certain   latitude.     The 


IQ2 


POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 


purpose  of  the  existing  rule  is  to  prevent  a  man  from 
hanging  back  to  snatch  a  run  with  the  ball.  A 
common  use  of  the  rule,  however,  which  is  a  perfectly 
legitimate  one,  is  for  the  back  to  endeavour  to  have 
No.  I  at  a  disadvantage  by  putting  him  offside. 
When  the  back  is  an  adroit  horseman  on  a  handy  pony 
this  is  comparatively  easy,  and  perhaps  is  an  unfore- 
seen development.  The  umpire's  true  course  is  to  be 
stricter  in  cases  of  hanging  back,  than  when  No.  i  is 
put  offside  for  tactical  purposes  by  No.  4.  That  is, 
he  should  require  greater  certainty  that  a  breach  of 
the  rule  had  been  committed  in  the  second  case 
than  the  first.  In  one  case  the  benefit  of  the  doubt 
would  go  to  the  defending,  in  the  other  to  the  attack- 
ing side.  But  if  there  is  no  doubt,  then  the  strict 
wording  of  the  rule  must  be  followed  irrespective  of 
circumstances,  and  this  in  the  end  is  the  fairest  plan. 

The  umpire  should  not  be  a  thin-skinned  man,  or 
one  with  a  pain  in  his  temper.  Polo  is  a  very  exciting 
game,  and  there  are  players  who  are  more  deficient  in 
control  of  their  tongues  than  of  the  ball.  It  is  a  gain 
when  those  players  can  be  induced  to  umpire,  whose 
knowledge  of  the  game  is  such  that  people  are  unwill- 
ing to  dispute  or  distrust  their  decisions. 

There  is  a  point  on  which  umpires  are  now  allowed 
a  larger  discretion  than  was  formerly  the  case.  They 
need  not  necessarily  accept  a  cry  for  a  new  ball, 
if  the  ball  in  play  is  in  their  opinion  sufficiently 
uninjured  to  go  on.  The  probability  is  that  umpires 
now  will  not  stop  the  game  at  the  cry  of  "New  ball !  " 
when  doing  so  would  deprive  the  side  in  possession 


UMPIRES  AND  REFEREES  193 

of  a  well-earned  advantage.  The  fact  that  the  ball 
is  started  from  a  point  as  near  as  possible  to  that 
on  which  the  game  was  st9pped,  will  not  of  course 
•compensate  for  the  loss  of  the  advantage  caused  by 
exchanging  a  ball  in  motion  for  a  stationary  one. 

Another  point  on  which  I  have  seen  an  umpire's 
discretion  taxed  is  when  a  fall  occurs.  If  a  player 
falls  off  through  his  own  fault  without  a  very  definite 
peck  or  stumble  on  the  part  of  the  pony,  then  the 
whistle  should  not  be  blown  and  the  game  stopped. 
"  Tve  fallen  off/'  observed  a  player  once  to  an  umpire. 
"  Well,  hadn't  you  better  get  up  .? "  was  the  reply  of 
the  just  but  unsympathetic  umpire. 

In  England  it  is  not  often  necessary  to  order  off 
the  ground  dangerous  ponies  or  to  warn  players,  but 
in  India  the  case  is  diff'erent.  Many  serious  accidents 
are  caused  by  riding  ponies  not  under  control  or 
improperly  bitted.  A  polo  pony,  inasmuch  as  he  is 
to  be  ridden  with  an  easy  rein,  should  always  be  rather 
more  sharply  bitted  than  a  hunter  or  hack  of  a 
similar  disposition,  or  than  the  same  pony  would  be 
for  the  field  or  the  road.  In  India,  now  that  Arabs 
are  so  constantly  ridden,  the  danger  is  less  than  it  was 
when  country-breds  were  generally  used. 

Umpires  have  also  laid  upon  them  the  duty  of 
keeping  the  game  going.  It  is  most  important  in 
London,  where  players  are  numerous  and  space  is 
limited,  that  those  who  play  should  not  overstep 
their  appointed  time,  and  the  umpire  is  responsible 
for  unnecessary  delays. 

There  is  another  point  on  which  the  umpire  would 


194        POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

do  well  to  be  especially  watchful.  If  the  danger  in 
India  is  from  untrained  ponies  and  sometimes,  unless 
the  nature  of  the  subaltern  has  greatly  changed,  from 
reckless  play,  in  England  the  chief  peril  is  from 
the  stick.  It  has  always  seemed  to  me  to  be  the 
prevailing  fault  of  many  players,  that  they  are  very 
careless  about  the  use  of  the  stick.  Umpires  might, 
I  think,  check  this  more  than  they  do.  There  have 
been  at  least  three  serious  and  many  minor  accidents 
from  sticks  in  my  experience.  A  word  of  warning  to 
excitable  or  careless  players  would  be  useful,  and  if 
need  be,  the  umpire's  discretion  in  the  matter  of  the 
use  of  sticks  could  be  extended  and  his  power  added 
to  in  order  to  lessen  and  control  this  danger.  In 
polo  accidents  will  happen,  and  they  cannot  be  pro- 
vided against  altogether,  but  it  is  possible  to  diminish 
the  risks  greatly. 

Another  point  not  without  importance  is  that  the 
umpires  should  be  ready  with  their  whistles.  There 
should  be  no  delay  in  stopping  the  game.  Mr.  T. 
Drybrough  suggested  that  the  whistle  should  be 
carried  on  a  wrist  strap.  Having  found  the  difficulty 
of  getting  hold  of  a  whistle  attached  to  a  cord,  still 
more  of  one  carried  in  a  pocket,  I  think  this  plan 
would  be  a  good  one.  Perhaps  it  would  be  even 
better  if  the  whistle  was  fixed  on  to  the  top  of  a  cane 
or  whip  after  the  fashion  of  the  hammer-head  of  a 
hunting  crop.  This  carried  in  the  hand  would  be 
always  ready  for  use. 

The  question  has  been  raised  if  when  there  are  two 
umpires,  either  should  stop  the  game  if  he  sees  a  foul. 


UMPIRES  AND  REFEREES  195 

even  if  it  does  not  take  place  on  the  part  of  the 
ground  he  is  watching.  It  would  seem  to  be  right 
to  give  a  foul  whenever  it  is  seen.  The  object  of  the 
umpire's  presence  is  to  check  unfair  play  whenever 
and  wherever  he  sees  it.  It  has  been  said  that  one 
umpire  should  not  contradict  the  other,  and  should 
not  take  evidence  from  the  players,  and  this  seems 
to  be  the  best  line  of  action.  Nor  should  umpires 
discuss  a  point  if  they  differ.  The  referee  should  at 
once  be  called  in  and  each  umpire  should  state  his 
case  clearly  and  briefly,  and  leave  the  decision  to  the 
referee. 

The  referee  is,  of  course,  ofi^  the  ground,  but  he 
should  have  a  seat  reserved  for  him  as  near  the 
middle  of  the  pavilion  as  possible,  and  should  be 
supplied  with  a  field -glass.  It  need  hardly  be  said 
it  is  desirable  that  he  should  follow  the  game  atten- 
tively. There  should  be  no  difficulty  in  important 
matches  in  obtaining  the  services  of  an  experienced 
player  of  note  to  occupy  the  position  of  referee.  In 
the  case  of  a  tournament  it  is  desirable  that  the  same 
person  should  act  as  referee  throughout  the  whole 
series  of  matches. 


CHAPTER   X 


THE    PONY    AND    STABLE    MANAGEMENT 


The  polo  pony  is  an  important  topic,  but  one  that 
need  not  delay  us  long.  I  adhere  to  the  definition  I 
have  given  in  another  book,  that  a  polo  pony  should 
have  hunter  type  and  pony  character.^  To  that  may 
be  added  the  generous,  courageous  disposition  which 
is  one  of  the  qualifications  of  a  first-class  pony.  In 
the  case  of  many  of  the  best  ponies  it  is  not  their 
make  and  shape  nor  their  speed,  so  much  as  their 
docility  and  generous  courage,  which  distinguish 
them.  I  look  upon  it  as  fortunate  that  the  sire  to 
which  we  owe  so  much  in  breeding  polo  ponies  is  a 

^  If  any  reader  wishes  to  know  what  I  mean  by  pony  character  I  would 
refer  him  to  the  portrait  of  "  Searchlight "  on  p.  49  of  the  IVehh  Pony  and  Cob 
Stud  Book,  vol.  iii. 

196 


^ 


.  a; 

^     CO- 

:^  ^• 

o 
h. 

O 

(< 
a, 

a: 


PONY  AND  STABLE  MANAGEMENT  197 

horse  of  a  beautiful  temper  which  he  transmits  to  his 
descendants.  Indeed,  I  have  never  seen  or  handled 
a  bad-tempered  "  Rosewater  "  colt  or  filly.  As  our 
principal  polo  pony  studs  are  full  of  his  blood,  and 
the  polo  pony  of  the  immediate  future  is  likely  to 
be  of  his  stock,  this  is  a  fortunate  circumstance. 

As  polo  is  played  at  present,  a  big  pony  is  better 
than  a  little  one  if  they  are  equally  good  in  other  ways. 
The  rough  bumping  game  knocks  the  heart  and  courage 
out  of  the  smaller  ponies,  besides  being  dangerous  for 
the  rider.  The  preference  for  big  ponies — and  size 
we  remember  is  in  a  horse  not  wholly  a  matter  of 
inches — is  very  marked  in  the  modern  game.  It  is 
the  result  of  experience,  for  a  small  light  pony  is 
certainly  pleasanter  to  ride,  and  well-bred  ponies 
could  carry  the  weight  of  the  ordinary  polo  player 
very  well  for  ten  minutes  or  less  if  it  were  not  for  the 
scrimmages.  Weight,  however,  is  an  unquestioned 
advantage  at  polo,  so  much  so  that,  other  things  being 
equal,  the  heavier  team  of  the  two  is  likely  to  win  a 
match.  I  once  read  a  suggestion  that  instead  of 
being  measured,  ponies  should  be  weighed,  and  if  it 
was  a  practical  one,  as  I  think  it  is  not,  it  certainly 
would  give  a  truer  idea  of  a  pony's  suitability  for  the 
game  than  any  other  plan.  It  is  thus  advisable  to 
have  a  pony  of  substance. 

Another  point  of  importance  is  that  the  pony  should 
suit  the  rider.  So  great  is  the  necessity  of  this  that  I 
will  try  to  illustrate  my  meaning.  Supposing  that  a 
man  was  offered  the  choice  of  two  ponies,  one  of  which 
was  a  performer  at  the  game  of  some  note,  and  the  other 


198        POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

was  unknown.  At  the  same  time,  if  he  were  told  he 
might  have  only  an  hour^s  trial  on  the  road,  if  after  riding 
both,  the  unknown  and  inexperienced  pony  suited  him 
in  every  way,  while  he  did  not  quite  get  on  with  the 
other,  then  I  believe  the  wiser  plan  would  be  to  select 
the  unknown  performer  at  the  game.  No  cleverness, 
speed,  or  other  qualities  in  a  pony  are  of  any  value  if 
he  does  not  suit  the  man  who  plays  him.  We  like 
some  horses  much  better  to  hunt  on  than  others,  but 
we  can  and  do  put  up  with  horses  that  we  do  not  like 
altogether,  and  ride  across  country  with  sufficient  if 
moderate  success.  But  with  polo  it  is  quite  different. 
Every  defect  in  the  pony  is  a  deduction  from  the 
effective  skill  of  the  player.  I  believe  that  the 
greatest  of  all  defects  is  for  a  pony  not  to  suit  us. 
There  have  been  many  instances,  some  of  which  will 
occur  to  my  readers,  where  a  man  buys  a  pony  for  its 
reputation  at  the  game,  with  the  result  of  destroying 
his  own  enjoyment  of  polo  and  diminishing  the 
pony's  value.  If  a  pony  suits  us — and  any  experienced 
rider  knows  when  he  finds  a  horse  in  sympathy  with 
him — we  shall  most  likely  have  an  animal  on  which  we 
can  play  in  our  best  form.  In  some  cases  the  buyer 
can  obtain  a  trial  in  a  game,  but  this  the  seller  is 
justified  in  refusing.  Some  men  spoil  your  ponies  for 
you  by  a  single  ride  in  a  game,  and  if  the  pony  does 
not  quite  suit  them  they  crab  him  afterwards.  A  ride 
on  the  road,  or  a  canter  with  stick  and  ball  in  a  field, 
is  as  much  trial  as  we  can  expect,  and  quite  as  much  as 
it  is  wise  to  give.  In  most  cases  it  is  sufficient  to  tell 
us  all  that  can  be  learned  about  a  pony  in  a  short  time. 


PONY  AND  STABLE  MANAGEMENT  199 

Having  bought  a  new  pony  it  is  a  mistake,  unless 
we  are  very  short  of  ponies,  to  take  it  straight  into 
the  game,  however  well  trained  the  seller  may  say  it 
is.  If  we  ride  the  pony  quietly  for  a  few  days  and 
knock  the  ball  about  for  an  odd  quarter  of  an  hour 
until  we  are  thoroughly  accustomed  to  each  other, 
many  a  pony  will  be  found  to  suit  us  that  might  not 
otherwise  do  so.  New  acquaintances  are  often  shy 
of  each  other,  for  a  time  at  least,  when  a  longer 
experience  brings  about  a  better  understanding.  As 
one  of  the  secrets  of  success  at  polo  is  a  perfect 
accord  between  horse  and  rider,  it  is  worth  while 
to  take  any  pains  to  secure  this  from  the  first. 
It  is,  I  think,  quite  as  much  a  matter  of  pains  as 
money.  No  one  can  be  sure  of  going  into  the 
market,  whatever  his  means  may  be,  and  buying  four 
first-class  ponies  to  suit  him.  It  may  be  said  that 
this  has  been  done,  for  we  see  the  fine  teams  of 
ponies  bought  at  high  prices  by  rich  players  on  the 
polo  ground.  True,  but  how  many  ponies  passed 
through  the  stables  of  these  fortunate  owners,  and 
how  much  money  was  expended  ?  You  will  never 
know,  since  it  is  not  on  such  points  that  men  are 
usually  expansive. 

Readiness  of  money  and  swiftness  to  seize  an 
opportunity,  some  patience,  and  above  all  an  un- 
wavering resolution  never  to  buy  a  pony  that  does 
not  please  us  when  we  ride  him,  will  in  the  end  be 
the  straightest  path  to  success  at  polo.  I  may  repeat 
here  what  I  have  said  before,  that  for  first-class  polo 
the  player  must  in  every  case  put  the  final  polish  on 


200        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

the  pony  himself.  Of  course  this  does  not  apply 
to  the  ordinary  man,  who  will  do  better  with  a 
thoroughly  well-trained  pony,  provided  only  he  can 
ride  him  with  comfort. 

The  equipment  of  the  pony  is  very  simple.  I 
should  put  the  saddle  first,  for  a  really  comfortable, 
well-fitting  saddle  makes  a  great  difference  in  a  man's 
play.  A  badly  shaped  saddle  may  easily  spoil  a  good 
pony,  so  that  from  every  point  of  view  the  saddle 
is  most  important.  Next  to  the  saddle  is  the  bridle 
and  the  bit.  The  simplest  is  the  best,  an  ordinary 
hunting  double  bridle  is  the  most  useful.  The 
cheeks  longer  or  shorter  according  as  the  pony 
catches  hold  when  excited  in  the  game.  Fancy  bits 
I  dislike  and  distrust ;  I  believe  that  if  a  pony  will 
not  go  comfortably  in  a  double  bridle  he  is  not  much 
use  at  polo,  and  I  am  sure  that  nine  men  out  of  ten 
cannot  ride  him  effectively  at  the  game.  Many 
ponies  go  better  in  a  standing  martingale,  and  its 
use  is  almost  universal  among  those  native  princes 
and  gentlemen  of  India  who  play  the  game.  At  the 
same  time  it  must  be  remembered  that  foreign  ponies, 
Arabs  included,  have  not,  as  a  rule,  their  heads  and 
necks  so  well  put  on  as  our  English  ponies.  Standing 
martingales  are  in  fashion,  but  I  see  no  advantage 
in  them  unless  they  are  necessary.  Nor  do  I  see 
why  a  pony  should  not  go  well  without  a  martingale 
if  he  is  properly  trained.  It  stands  to  reason  that 
a  pony  if  he  has  been  taught  to  gallop  properly  and 
in  collected  form,  will  do  so  more  pleasantly  with  his 
head  free.     If  a  standing  martingale  is  used,  should 


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!<^'  .    ■ 

PONY  AND  STABLE  MANAGEMENT  201 

we  fasten  it  to  the  noseband  or  to  the  snaffle  ?  The 
general  opinion  se^ms  to  be  that  to  fix  it  to  the  nose- 
band is  the  right  plan.  But  in  practice  I  have  found 
it  better  on  the  snaffle  rings,  and  I  think  we  may 
infer  that  sometimes  one  method  and  sometimes 
another  is  right,  according  to  the  disposition  of  the 
pony.  If  a  pony,  owing  to  a  faulty  neck,  requires 
to  be  strapped  down  tight,  then  I  think  perhaps 
the  noseband  is  the  better  plan  ;  but  if,  on  the  other 
hand,  he  may  be  allowed  a  considerable  amount  of 
freedom,  then  the  rings  of  the  snaffle  may  be  pre- 
ferable. In  the  latter  case  the  pony  is  able  to 
accommodate  itself  better  to  the  pull,  and  by  shifting 
its  head  to  ease  the  strain  on  the  mouth. 

I  should  have  the  less  hesitation  in  recommending 
a  preference  for  the  snaffle  rings,  if  I  was  quite 
sure  that  the  rider  was  sufficiently  independent  of 
his  bridle  to  be  able  to  avoid  giving  the  pony 
unnecessary  jerks  with  the  reins.  When  once  the 
pony  will  go  comfortably  in  the  martingale  he 
would  not  need  to  have  it  on  except  when  actually 
playing.  Thus  the  risk  of  deadening  the  mouth 
would  be  lessened. 

The  Rugby  polo  boots  for  the  pony  should  always 
be  put  on  both  for  play  and  practice.  They  are  one 
of  the  most  useful  inventions  connected  with  the 
game,  and  save  the  ponies  from  many  a  blow  and 
bruise  that  might  produce  lameness. 

The  stable  management  of  the  polo  pony  has  for 
its  object  to  keep  the  pony  in  hard  condition,  not 
only  since  he  is  thus  able  to  do  his  work  better,  but 


202        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

also  because  he  is  less  likely  to  suffer  injury  from 
or  indeed  to  feel  the  blows  and  bruises  which  are 
incidental  to  polo.  To  this  end  a  polo  pony  requires 
a  great  deal  more  of  slow,  long  work  on  the  road 
than  he  generally  has.  It  is  only  by  steady  walking 
and  trotting  that  we  can  obtain  the  condition  neces- 
sary to  enable  a  pony  to  stand  the  strain  of  a  hard, 
galloping  game.  Polo  is  harder  on  the  ponies  than 
it  used  to  be,  and  we  must  meet  the  change  by 
improved  condition. 

Supposing  that  you  do  not  want  your  ponies  to 
ride  or  drive  during  the  winter  months,  the  best 
way  to  winter  them  is  out  in  the  open.  A  field 
with  a  shed  in  it  is  the  best  place  for  them.  There 
is  not  the  same  objection  to  turning  ponies  out  to 
grass  in  the  winter  that  applies  to  doing  this  to 
hunters  in  the  summer.  The  ground  is  not  so  hard, 
there  are  no  flies,  nor  is  there  the  lush  growth  of 
grass  that  makes  horses  fat  and  puffy.  Now  that 
the  season  is  so  long  and  tournaments  so  many,  I 
think  the  first-class  tournament  pony  greatly  benefits 
by  the  complete  rest  of  the  fields.  Of  course  the 
ponies  should  always  be  under  the  eye  of  a  respons- 
ible person,  and  they  must  be  fed  regularly  with  hay 
and  corn.  This  seems  needless  to  say  but  for  the  fact 
that  we  know  polo  ponies  are  sometimes  turned  out 
and  left  to  shift  for  themselves,  merely  to  save  labour 
and  stable  room.  The  polo  pony  wintering  in  the 
field  requires  careful  looking  after.  His  feet  must 
be  taken  care  of,  the  hind  shoes  being  removed,  and 
the  front  feet,  unless  very  hard  and  sound,  shod  with 


PONY  AND  STABLE  MANAGEMENT  203 

tips.  A  pony's  feet  often  grow  very  quickly,  and 
they  must  be  carefully  watched.  Another  important 
point  is  a  supply  of  pure  water.  Without  this  the 
ponies  will  not  thrive. 

As  to  taking  the  ponies  up  from  grass  and  putting 
them  into  work,  a  good  deal  depends  on  circum- 
stances. In  some  cases  there  is  not  stable  room  for 
the  polo  ponies  until  the  hunters  have  gone  into 
summer  quarters.  But  where  either  there  is  no 
difficulty  about  space  or  labour,  or  where  the  polo 
pony  is  the  first  consideration,  the  sooner  the  ponies 
come  up  after  the  New  Year  the  better.  Most 
ponies  are  taken  up  not  later  than  February.  Take 
care  the  stables  are  not  too  hot.  I  hardly  think  they 
can  be  too  cold.  In  fact,  it  may  be  said  that  no 
fairly  well-built  stable  with  half-a-dozen  horses  in 
it  will  ever  be  too  cold.  A  polo  pony  undipped 
needs  no  clothing  at  all  when  stabled,  and  even  for 
a  clipped  pony  one  woollen  rug  is  generally  enough. 
Grooms  are  fond  of  clothing  because  it  makes  the 
coat  look  bright  with  a  small  amount  of  grooming. 
But  this  is  not  what  we  want  for  condition,  for  there 
is  riothing  so  beneficial  as  plenty  of  grooming. 
Nevertheless  we  have  to  do  with  the  world  as  it  is, 
and  to  encounter  the  dislike  of  men  to  work,  especi- 
ally if  they  think  that  the  same  results  can  be 
achieved  any  other  way  with  less  trouble.  More- 
over, few  stables  keep  a  sufficient  number  of  helpers 
to  do  without  some  artificial  assistance.  As  to  bed- 
ding, I  prefer  peat  moss,  for  the  following  reasons. 
The  animals  do  not  eat  it  as  they  do  straw,  and  ponies 


204        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

are  often  very  keen  feeders.  There  is  less  waste  of 
hay.  I  used  to  notice  that  my  horses  bedded  on 
peat  moss  ate  up  every  blade  of  their  allowance  of 
hay.  Lastly,  I  have  never  found  any  ill  effects  to 
the  feet  from  peat  moss  if  it  be  scraped  away  from 
the  floor,  and  the  pony  made  to  stand  on  the  bare 
floor  for  two  hours  or  more  every  day.  Indeed  I  am 
bound  to  say  that  with  reasonable  care  1  have  had 
on  the  whole  less  trouble  in  that  way  with  peat  moss 
than  with  straw.  I  do  not  think,  however,  that 
there  is  any  great  saving  of  expense  in  its  use  in  a 
small  stable. 

But  the  matter  of  most  importance  with  polo 
ponies  when  once  they  are  taken  up  is  exercise. 
Nor  is  it  easy  to  give  them  enough.  It  needs  to 
be  long,  about  ten  miles  a  day.  It  should  be  slow, 
given  at  a  walk  or  a  trot,  and  it  should  be  on  the 
road  whenever  the  roads  are  not  absolutely  frozen 
hard.  For  my  own  part  I  have  no  objection  to 
driving  a  polo  pony  in  harness,  and  I  do  not  believe 
it  does  much  if  any  harm.  I  have  known  some 
first-class  ponies,  like  "  Skittles,"  that  were  excellent 
trappers,  and  I  have  a  great  belief  in  running  in  the 
lead  of  a  tandem  or  team  for  conditioning  a  pony. 
Almost  anything  is  better  than  the  humdrum  jog 
along  the  roads  which  most  ponies  have  if  they  are 
left  to  grooms.  However,  a  polo  pony  is  so  far 
better  off  than  a  hunter  that  he  will  probably  have 
some  variety  in  'his  work.  By  the  middle  or  end 
of  March,  when  a  pony  is  beginning  to  come  into 
condition,  and  its  legs  are  fairly  hard  with  steady 


Ct3 

hi 


PONY  AND  STABLE  MANAGEMENT  205 

road  work,  a  little  work  in  the  field  or  on  the  private 
polo  ground  will  do  most  ponies  good.  Some  there 
are  that  are  so  clever  that  they  need  no  practice,  but 
most  ponies  are  none  the  worse  at  the  beginning  of 
each  season  for  a  little  practice  at  figures  of  eight  or 
other  school  exercises.  The  majority  of  ponies  once 
broken  to  stick  and  ball  take  no  notice  of  them 
afterwards,  but  I  have  known  instances  of  ponies 
pretending  they  had  never  seen  either  before  and 
that  they  were  very  much  frightened  of  them.  We 
say  how  stupid  the  pony  is,  but  the  chances  are  that 
it  remembers  some  blow  with  stick  or  ball  which  we 
have  forgotten,  since  it  hurt  the  pony  and  not  our- 
selves. In  any  case  it  is  well  to  try  them,  unless 
they  are  well  known  and  experienced  favourites.  As 
to  the  feeding  of  ponies  in  hard  work,  it  is  im- 
possible to  lay  down  rules  as  to  the  quantity.  Some 
require  more  and  some  less,  and  each  horse  has  his 
peculiarities,  but  if  we  take  10  lbs.  of  grain  given 
in  four  feeds,  6  a.m.,  11  a.m.,  3  p.m.,  and  about  9.30 
p.m.,  or  as  near  those  hours  as  may  be  convenient, 
as  a  basis,  we  shall  find  that  we  are  not  far  wrong. 
I  have  always  used  bran  to  mix  with  the  grain,  and 
believe  in  it,  but  it  has  the  disadvantage  of  being 
expensive.  I  prefer  long  hay  for  horses  and  ponies 
in  hard  work,  but  in  large  stables  the  economy  of  the 
chaff-cutter  is  obvious.  In  small  stables  there  is  no 
gain  in  it.  The  best  oats  and  old  hay  should  be  used 
during  the  polo  season  for  tournament  ponies. 

The  more  experience  I  have  the  more  firmly  do  I 
believe  in  leaving  water  always  in  the  box  or  stall, 


2o6        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

but  it  must  be  changed  often  and  the  vessels  kept 
clean.  An  ordinary  zinc  pail,  placed  in  a  ring 
fastened  to  the  wall,  is  the  best  because  the  simplest 
plan.  Easily  emptied  and  cleaned,  it  is  better  than 
any  permanent  arrangement  in  the  manger.  The 
simpler  the  stable  arrangements  are  the  better.  The 
best  and  healthiest  stables  I  ever  had  were  made  out 
of  a  range  of  old  farm  buildings.  The  floors  were 
laid  with  concrete  and  all  moisture  drained  outside, 
the  mangers  were  earthenware  pans  let  into  brick 
pillars  built  up  in  the  corner,  at  the  opposite  corner 
an  iron  ring  held  the  bucket.  There  was  of  course 
no  hay-rack,  and  the  ponies  and  horses  had  their  hay 
as  they  ought  to,  off  the  ground.  The  cost  of  these 
boxes  for  eight  ponies  was  very  small.  I  may  add 
that  the  walls  were  coloured  with  yellow  wash,  which 
is  better  than  white.  The  stable  doors  faced  south, 
and  had  each  a  half  door,  so  that  the  ponies  could 
look  out.  Horses  may  be  very  stupid  animals,  but 
like  a  great  many  dull  people  they  are  very  fond  of 
looking  out  of  the  window  and  seeing  what  is  going 
on.  We  may  be  sure  that  they  are  not  made  any 
more  stupid  by  doing  so. 

Polo  grooms  are  very  fond  of  washing  their 
ponies  after  a  game.  It  is  a  slovenly,  lazy  trick, 
and  I  would  never  allow  it.  Hand  rubbing  and 
strapping  are  most  useful,  and  grooming  is  as  im- 
portant as  good  feeding  to  the  well-being  of  a  horse, 
if  it  be  not  more  so. 

Equipment  of  the  Player. — A  kindly  critic  of  one  of 
my  books  in  the  Spectator  accused  me  of  evading  the 


PONY  AND  STABLE  MANAGEMENT  207 

question  of  the  dress  of  a  sportsman  by  recommend- 
ing a  good  tailor  and  bootmaker.  I  do  not  know 
that  any  better  advice  can  be  given.  The  cut  of 
both  breeches  and  boots  is  of  so  much  more  con- 
sequence than  the  material.  It  does  not  matter  for 
polo  at  all  events  of  what  particular  cloth  breeches 
are  made,  or  whether  boots  are  black  or  brown,  but 
it  does  matter  that  they  fit  well  or  ill.  In  a  game 
like  polo,  which  is  played  in  public,  the  equipment 
should  fit  well  and  be  smart,  but  it  must  be  that  kind 
of  smartness  which  comes  from  the  perfection  of  cut 
and  workmanship.  At  the  same  time  it  should  give 
to  the  player  the  utmost  ease  and  freedom  in  the  use 
of  his  limbs.  Polo  is  a  game  which  causes  us  to  use 
almost  every  muscle  of  the  body,  and  there  should 
be  no  tightness  or  pinch  anywhere.  A  really  good 
tailor  and  bootmaker  can  do  this  for  one  without 
making  breeches  too  large,  or  boots  like  buckets. 
A  friend  of  mine,  a  master  of  hounds,  considers 
that  you  ought  to  be  able  to  draw  your  legs  through 
your  breeches  without  unbuttoning  the  buttons  at 
the  knee  at  all,  and  we  know  that  Mr.  Jovey  Jessop 
despised  boot-jacks  and  kicked  his  boots  off  when 
he  came  home,  but  still  in  neither  case  could  the  gar- 
ments have  been  either  smart  or  elegant.  Assuming 
then,  after  all,  that  we  cannot  escape  from  the  tailor 
or  bootmaker,  white  washing  breeches,  brown  boots 
with  straight,  dummy  spurs,  are  the  right  wear. 
Common  prudence  demands  one  of  tjie  polo  caps 
which  were  invented  by  Mr.  Gerald  Hardy,  and  are 
patented  and   made   by  Barnard  of  Jermyn  Street. 


20 8        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

The  cap  is  not  only  a  protection  to  the  head,  but 
is  the  smartest  head-dress  you  can  wear.  A  polo 
whip,  if  your  pony  wants  it,  which  I  think  but  few 
ponies  do  that  are  worth  much  at  the  game,  will 
complete  the  outfit.  To  this  I  may  add  that  a 
counsel  of  wisdom  and  prudence  always,  but  especially 
in  hot  weather,  is  to  have  a  greatcoat  ready  to  put  on 
when  we  are  heated  with  play  and  waiting  for  another 
turn  at  members'  games  or  for  a  second  match. 


CHAPTER   XI 


POLO    PONY    BREEDING 


Those  who  turn  over  the  pages  of  this  book  will  find 
a  number  of  illustrations  depicting  polo  ponies  of 
all  kinds. 

They  have  been  selected  with  a  view  to  showing 
the  polo  pony  at  work  and  at  rest,  and  also  of  giving 
examples  of  some  of  the  ponies  used  for  breeding 
purposes.  These  ponies  come  from  four  countries, 
Ireland,  England,  America,  Argentina.  Of  these 
the  Irish  and  English  are  by  common  consent  the 
best,  and  they  supply  us  with  examples  of  the  stamp 
of  pony  which  it  is  desired  to  breed  for  polo  purposes. 
It  is  true,  of  course,  in  a  sense,  that  you  cannot  breed 
a  polo  pony.     But  you  can  breed  a  pony  which  by 

209  p 


2IO        POLO:   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

conformation  and  blood  is  more  likely  than  not 
to  play  polo  if  it  is  trained  carefully  and  used  with 
judgment.  The  object  of  this  chapter  is  to  show 
what  is  the  purpose  the  breeder  of  ponies  of  the  polo 
type  sets  before  himself,  to  show  why  it  is  thought 
that  he  has  reasonable  prospects  of  success  in  his 
undertaking. 

That  we  have  the  type  clegrly  before  us  no  one 
who  will  study  these  pictures  can  doubt.  The  prob- 
lem to  be  solved  is  to  breed  ponies  of  the  right 
stamp,  and  having  done  so,  to  fix  the  type  so  that  the 
polo  pony  may  take  its  place  among  our  recognised 
breeds  of  horses  in  the  same  way  as  the  hackney,  the 
shire  horse,  and  the  hackney  pony  have  already  done. 
The  first  thing  to  do  is  to  discover  how  the  existing 
ponies  have  come  into  being,  and,  having  so  far  as 
possible  traced  them  to  their  origin,  to  inquire  if  it 
is  possible  by  starting  from  the  same  point  to  produce 
similar  animals.  I  begin  with  the  axiom  that,  given 
time,  patience,  and  judgment,  you  can,  within  certain 
limits,  establish  any  variety  of  our  domestic  animals. 
You  have,  when  once  the  type  is  fixed,  to  eliminate 
as  far  as  possible  the  tendency  to  reversion  which  is 
the  outcome  of  the  law  of  heredity,  so  that  your  young 
stock  shall  come  true  to  type. 

Let  us  take  the  Irish  pony,  just  because  so  many 
of  our  best  polo  ponies  have  come  from  Ireland,  and 
because  the  origin  of  the  Irish  pony  can  be  traced 
without  much  difficulty.  Though  it  may  be  difficult 
to  establish  the  pedigree  of  any  particular  animal,  yet 
it  is  fairly  well  understood  how  the  Irish  pony  came 


^■ 

tin 

o 

o 

o 

>.• 
o 

CO 


POLO  PONY  BREEDING  211 

into  existence.  In  the  first  instance,  no  doubt,  they 
were  misfits  of  hunter-breeding  or  reversions  to 
smaller  ancestors  of  that  type.  Before  the  days  of 
polo,  or  at  all  events  while  the  demand  was  still 
slack,  but  few  Irish  breeders  intended  to  produce  a 
14.2  pony.  A  hunter  was  much  more  remunerative, 
or,  if  not  a  hunter,  then  a  troop-horse  or  a  trapper. 

But  at  the  foundation  of  all  Irish  horse-breeding 
was  the  pony  blood  of  Connemara  and  Galway. 
Horse-breeding  depends  upon  the  existence  in  any 
country  of  the  need  for  a  working  horse.  The  Irish 
farmer  had  and  has  a  use  for  wiry,  active,  clean-legged 
mares  of  strong  constitutions  and  even  temper. 
They  wanted  horses  that  would  work  hard  and  live 
in  the  rough.  But  there  was  also  in  Ireland  work 
for  the  smaller,  cheaper,  and  hardier  pony  which  could 
maintain  itself  on  the  moors  and  uplands.  On  these 
wild  tracts  of  country  there  are  great  varieties  of  herbs 
and  stunted  shrubs,  and  these  were  just  what  a  race 
of  hardy  ponies  needed.  Then  these  ponies  were 
required  for  carrying  burdens,  and  for  such  a  purpose 
the  peasants  found  it  indispensable  to  have  intelligent, 
docile  animals — a  sulky,  stupid  pony  was  no  use  to 
them.  Therefore  there  was  a  continual  process  of 
selection  for  temper  and  docility  going  on.  These 
animals  became  known,  and  their  blood  was  diffused 
more  or  less  through  aU  the  working  horses  of  the 
country.  There  was,  as  in  England  so  in  Ireland, 
and  on  the  borders  of  Wales,  much  pony  blood 
crossed  with  thoroughbred  blood.  The  mares  so 
bred  produced  the  famous  Irish  hunters  which  may 


212        POLO:   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

be  seen  any  day  making  light  of  the  Badminton 
walls,  crossing  safely  the  Blackmore  Vale  doubles, 
or  flying  the  blackthorn  hedges  of  the  shires.  But 
now  and  again  in  the  place  of  the  big  hunter  came 
the  14.2  pony. 

When  polo  began  to  prosper,  these  ponies  were 
rescued  from  the  slavery  of  the  higgler's  cart,  played 
in  some  Irish  county  club,  and  coming  to  hand 
quickly,  since  an  Irish  man  knows  well  how  to 
school  an  Irish  horse,  they  had  a  few  brilliant  days 
in  the  County  Cup  in  Dublin.  The  best  pony  soon 
found  his  way  to  England,  and  when  English  con- 
dition and  Irish  horse-flesh  combined  had  made 
him  one  of  the  best  in  England,  came  his  day  of 
triumph.  It  is  the  final  of  the  Champion  Cup 
or  of  the  Inter-Regimental.  The  score  stands  at 
two  all  and  but  ten  minutes  more  remain.  "  Give 
me  '  Brian,'  "  says  the  master.  "  He's  had  three  tens 
already,  sir,"  replies  the  groom.  "  Never  mind, 
he  never  failed  me  yet,"  and  so  once  more  the 
good  brown  pony  goes  out.  Shrinking  from  no 
scrimmage  and  never  hanging  back  in  his  stride, 
the  rider's  chance  comes,  and  these  two  sweep  down 
with  a  clear  lead  for  the  goal.  Who  whoop  !  and 
the  bell  rings.  "  It's  aU  your  doing,  old  man,"  says 
the  master  as  he  gives  the  pony  a  friendly  smack  and 
swings  off  to  the  pavilion,  while  "  Brian  "  is  led  away, 
his  wide  nostrils,  his  heaving  flank,  his  quivering  tail 
telling  of  the  severity  of  the  struggle.  Yet  to-morrow 
his  eye  will  be  as  clear,  his  legs  as  cool  and  hard  as 
ever,  he  will  have  cleaned  out  his  manger  and  rested 


POLO  PONY  BREEDING 


213 


well.  Let  us  see  now  what  has  gone  to  the  making 
of  this  pony.  First,  there  is  the  pony  of  the  hills  and 
moors  finding  his  living  on  the  scanty  but  nourish- 
ing grass  and  the  fibrous  stunted  shrubs  of  the  wild 
country  of  his  birth.  Then  there  is  the  struggle 
for  existence  which  has  developed  his  intelligence, 
hardened  his  constitution,  and  diminished  his  size. 
One  of  the  chief  factors  in  regulating  the  size  of  the 
horse  is  this  struggle  for  existence.  This  is  the 
reason  why  horses  that  live  in  herds  are  always 
smaller  than  those  living  separately  or  in  small 
numbers.  In  proportion  as  we  make  life  easier  for 
the  horse  and  lessen  the  stress  of  the  struggle,  or  take 
it  away  altogether,  does  his  size  increase.  Thirdly, 
we  have,  in  the  strains  of  our  English  pony,  the 
working  mares.  The  best  polo  ponies  and  hunters 
are  those  derived  from  mares  which  had  real  work  to 
do,  and  Nature  has  given  us  a  hint  on  which  we  should 
do  well  to  ponder,  that  the  pleasure  of  the  sportsman 
has  its  roots  far  back  in  the  necessities  of  the  peasant 
farmer.  From  these  working  ancestors  we  have  the 
docility  and  courage  for  which  the  ponies  and  mares 
have  been  selected  for  generations.  Lastly,  we  have 
the  infusion  of  thoroughbred  blood,  giving  the  speed 
and  the  shape  and  make  which  we  need. 

Speaking  generally,  we  may  say  that,  while  make 
and  shape,  docility,  intelligence,  and  speed  are  largely 
a  matter  of  inheritance,  endurance  and  hardiness  are 
the  result  of  climate,  food,  and  the  circumstances  of 
the  life  of  the  ancestors. 

Having  thus  analysed  the  materials  that  have  gone 


214        POLO:   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

to  the  making  of  a  polo  pony,  we  have  to  consider 
whether,  by  selecting  the  most  suitable  specimens  of 
the  ponies  we  have,  we  can  breed  with  remunerative 
certainty  an  animal  of  which  we  can  say,  this  is  likely 
to  make  a  polo  pony  if  it  falls  into  good  hands.  But 
here  comes  in  a  question  which  we  are  bound  to  face. 
Supposing  that  you  buy  mares  of  the  right  type  and 
put  them  to  similar  and  suitable  stallions,  that  is,  to 
horses  which,  while  of  the  same  general  type  as  the 
mares,  have  those  qualities  which  the  mares  lack,  what 
security  have  you  that  you  will  not  be  disappointed 
by  some  unexpected  reversion  to  some  unsuspected 
ancestors  ?  This  may  indeed  occur,  but  what  we  have 
to  consider  is  its  probability.  I  think  that  while  the 
existence  of  the  possibility  of  reversion  is  not  to  be 
denied,  its  probability  is  much  exaggerated.  For  this 
there  are  two  reasons  : — First^  that  the  general 
tendency  of  reversion  where  the  crosses  are  not 
violent  or  to  absolutely  alien  blood,  is  to  the  average 
or  mean  type.  This  applies,  I  think,  to  those  mental 
as  well  as  physical  characteristics,  which  can  be 
inherited,  and  thus,  of  course,  to  size  among  others. 
Secondly^  that  the  tendency  to  reversion  diminishes 
when  the  races  bred  from  are  prepotent  ones.  That 
is,  the  tendency  to  reversion  to  a  different  type  from 
that  of  the  parents,  is  diminished  in  direct  proportion 
to  the  purity  of  the  race.  "  It  is,*'  says  Mr.  Vernon, 
"when  two  distinct  races  are  crossed  that  the 
tendency  to  reversion  most  often  declares  itself"^ 
He  goes  on :  "The  reversion  of  hybrids  and  mongrels 

^  Variation  in  Animals  and  Plants.     H.  M.  Vernon,  M.A.,  London,  1903. 


POLO  PONY  BREEDING  215 

to  one  of  their  pure  parent  forms  after  an  interval 
of  two  or  more  generations  is  especially  common. 
Hence  it  would  seem  that  the  act  of  crossing  in  itself 
gives  an  impulse  to  reversion."  The  tendency  to 
unexpected  and  undesirable  reversion  is  then  to  be 
looked  for  less  in  the  offspring  of  pure  breeds,  and 
especially  of  those  which  have  been  more  or  less 
closely  inbred.  Now,  in  the  case  of  the  polo  pony, 
we  have  descent  from  two  offshoots  of  a  common 
stock,  the  Eastern  horse,  both  of  which  offshoots  have 
been  closely  inbred. 

Let  me  illustrate  this  by,  the  pedigree  of  a  pony 
which  is  very  likely  hereafter  to  be  selected  as  a  brood 
mare.  In  1904,  a  filly,  a  fine  type  of  pony,  named 
"  Modest  Maiden,"  was  exhibited  at  the  Knighton 
Show  by  the  Radnorshire  Polo  and  Riding  Pony  Stud 
Company.  "  Modest  Maiden  "  is  by  "  Shyboy,"  by 
"  Rosewater,"  by  "  Rosicrucian."  The  last  named  has 
four  crosses  of  "  Orville  "  in  his  pedigree.  "  Orville  " 
has  four  crosses  of  the  Darley  Arabian,  which  please 
note.  Now,  turning  to  "  Modest  Maiden's  "  dam,  she 
was  a  Welsh  pony  by  a  trotting  (not  a  hackney) 
pony  "  Royal  Revenge  II."  This  pony  goes  back  to 
Rystyk's  "  Hambletonian,"  said  by  Americans  to  be 
the  king  of  trotting  sires,  and  through  him  at  last  to 
the  Darley  Arabian  again.  Thus  we  have  a  common 
descent  from  one  of  the  sources  of  our  thorough- 
bred blood.  The  rest  of  "  Modest  Maiden's " 
blood  is  that  of  the  Welsh  mountain  pony.  Now  all 
mountain  and  moorland  breeds  are  very  prepotent, 
because  they  are,  by  the  nature  of  things,  closely 


2i6        POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

inbred.  Alien  crosses  may  from  time  to  time  be 
admitted,  but  such  is  the  prepotency  of  a  mountain- 
bred  pony  that  they  can  absorb  without  much  deterior- 
ation a  great  deal  of  alien  blood.  The  climate  and 
the  food  are  always  working  with  the  inherited 
tendency  to  produce  a  particular  type.  Sir  Richard 
Green  Price  tells  me  that  "  Modest  Maiden  "  is  in 
foal  to  "  Schoolmaster."  This  horse  is  by  "Wisdom" 
out  of  "  Brenta  "  by  "  Parmesan."  "  Wisdom  "  has 
six  crosses  of  "  Orville,"  and  "  Brenta "  through 
"  Parmesan  "  has  two  crosses.  Thus  the  chances  of 
reversion  in  "  Modest  Maiden's  "  offspring  would  be 
very  small.  If,  further,  we  carefully  select  for  type, 
with  each  succeeding  generation  the  chances  of 
unwelcome  reversion  grow  smaller,  and  the  type  we 
require  a  practical  certainty.  "  After  six  generations 
of  selection,"  writes  Professor  Pearson,  quoted  by  Mr. 
Vernon, "  the  selected  individuals  will,  without  further 
selection,  breed  true  to  the  selected  type  within  nearly 
I  per  cent  of  its  value."  We  can  then  without  undue 
temerity  lay  down  that  the  polo  pony  of  the  future 
must  be  an  animal  containing  thoroughbred  and  pony 
blood,  and  be  bred  from  selected  animals  for  six  genera- 
tions. In  practice  I  do  not  believe  so  long  a  time  will 
be  required,  for  the  above  sample  pedigree  (and  others 
would  yield  precisely  similar  results)  shows  that  more 
than  half  the  work  is  done  for  us  when  we  begin. 
If,  as  is  much  to  be  hoped,  the  owners  of  other 
mountain  breeds  follow  the  example  of  Wales  and 
establish  stud  books  of  their  own,  the  task  will  be  much 
simplified.  Everyi  Irish  breeder  knows  the  value  of  the 


POLO  PONY  BREEDING  217 

old  pony  blood,  and,  as  readers  will  already  have 
inferred,  English  hunters  and  polo  ponies  owe  their 
origin  in  a  large  number  of  cases  to  the  Welsh  or 
other  mountain  breeds. 

To  those  who  doubt  this  I  recommend  the  study 
of  the  Welsh  Stud  Book,  which  will  be  found  at  once 
amusing  and  instructive.  For  the  Welsh  Stud  Book 
has  the  advantage  of  the  vivid  pen  of  Sir  Richard 
Green  Price,  and  the  brilliant  essays,  full  of  wit  and 
substance,  of  Mr.  Charles  Coltman  Rogers. 

The  above  reflections  will  help  us  to  realise  two 
important  truths.  First,  that  it  is  possible  to  breed 
the  class  of  riding  pony  we  want,  and  secondly,  that 
the  mountain  and  moorland  ponies  are  deserving 
of  every  assistance  and  encouragement  which  it  is 
in  our  power  to  give  them.  What  is  needed  is  not 
any  undue  interference,  still  less  crosses  of  alien  blood, 
but  a  steady  and  sustained  effort  to  preserve  the 
purity  and  hardiness  of  the  breeds.  I  should  like 
to  see  the  elimination,  by  law  if  necessary,  of  all 
diseased,  weakly,  or  aged  individuals,  and  the  removal 
of  unsound  or  immature  stallions. 

If  horse-breeders  are  right  in  their  opinion  of  the 
value  of  pony  blood  in  hunters  and  cobs  (and  who 
can  doubt  it  ^),  then  the  landowners  and  farmers  of 
the  countries  where  these  breeds  are  produced  are  the 
guardians  of  a  most  valuable  national  asset.  They 
should  be  assisted,  encouraged,  even,  if  necessary,  with 
a  little  gentle  compulsion,  to  do  their  duty  by  them. 

The  Polo  and  Riding  Pony  Society  has  done  a 
great  deal,  and  of  late  with  the  hearty  co-operation  of 


2i8        POLO:   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

our  leading  polo  players.  Are  not  our  best  polo 
players  among  our  best  judges  ?  and  Hurlingham, 
Ranelagh,  and  Roehampton  have  thrown  open  their 
shows  to  the  members  of  the  Society,  while  Ranelagh 
in  particular  has  striven  to  encourage  the  breeding 
classes  by  a  liberal  offer  of  prizes  for  brood-mares 
and  stallions.  The  success  of  the  Society  has 
justified  the  policy  of  the  Council  in  encouraging 
local  eiFort.  This  has  been  achieved  by  granting 
medals  and  giving  prizes  at  shows  in  different  parts 
of  the  country.  Moreover,  members  of  the  Council 
are  frequently  called  upon  to  act  as  judges  of  pony 
classes,  and  in  these  ways  have  helped  to  encourage 
the  true  type  of  pony  all  over  the  country. 

But  a  more  substantial  stimulus  to  the  breeder  is 
to  be  found  in  the  ready  sale  there  is  for  ponies  likely 
to  make  polo  ponies.  Four  or  five  hundred  of  these 
are  sold  at  Tattersall's  every  spring,  and  are  all  much 
of  the  same  type.  It  so  happens  that  the  polo  pony 
is  the  most  generally  useful  horse  there  is.  You 
cannot  put  him  out  of  his  place,  and  he  will  do  every- 
thing from  drawing  a  lawn-mower  up  to  winning  a 
race.  The  Government  covets  them  for  mounted- 
infantry  cobs,  for  a  trained  polo  pony  is  more  than 
half  a  troop-horse  already.  I  believe  that  we  shall 
come  to  use  animals  of  this  type,  not  only  for 
mounted  infantry  but  for  light  cavalry.  I  sometimes 
dream  of  a  crack  corps  of  guides  mounted  on 
14.2  polo  ponies,  and  think  how  useful  they  would 
be.  They  should  be  ofllicered  by  men  who  had 
all  played  in  the  Inter-Regimental  Tournament. 


"I 


POLO  PONY  BREEDING  219 

But  in  any  case  there  is  now  every  reason  to 
encourage  us  to  breed  polo  ponies,  or,  if  it  is 
demanded  we  should  put  it  that  way,  animals  suitable 
for  polo.  The  mares  are  always  useful  on  and  about 
a  country  house  or  farm,  there  is  a  plentiful  choice 
of  good  stallions,  and  the  market  is  a  ready  one. 
Prices,  however,  are  not  very  satisfactory  to  the 
breeder.  The  breeding  of  the  polo  pony  is  attracting 
considerable  interest,  and  the  more  largely  it  is  under- 
taken the  better  will  be  the  production  of  the  raw 
material  of  polo,  and  the  better  will  riding  ponies 
pay  the  breeder.  As  long  as  ponies  are  scarce  and 
the  demand  greatly  exceeds  the  supply,  the  price  of 
the  trained  pony  will  increase  out  of  all  proportion 
to  the  value  of  the  untrained  animal.  We  see  this 
from  the  example  of  India,  where  polo  has  certainly 
not  grown  of  late  years  as  it  ought  to  have  done, 
because  of  the  demand  for  trained  ponies.  If  people 
will  buy  only  those  ponies  that  know  their  business, 
the  dealers  in  Bombay  or  London  find  their  business 
fall  off  and  prices  are  lowered. 

Major -General  Haig,  the  present  Inspector- 
General  of  Cavalry,  has  made  some  excellent  sug- 
gestions. He  advises  that  all  ponies  should  be 
registered  in  two  classes.  Class  A  includes  all 
those  ponies  that  have  never  played  in  a  tournament. 
Class  B  all  those  that  have.  He  further  advises 
that  in  inter-regimental  tournaments  eighteen  ponies 
be  allowed  to  each  team — twelve  from  Class  A  and 
not  more  than  six  from  Class  B  ;  but  the  whole 
number  may  be  taken  from  Class  A  if  it  is  preferred. 


220        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

The  effect  of  this  would  be  to  oblige  a  regiment  to 
buy  two-thirds  of  its  ponies  when  still  untrained,  it 
would  increase  the  number  of  trained  ponies  on  the 
market  and  thus  in  time  lower  the  average  price, 
while  it  would  also  stimulate  the  demand  for  untrained 
ponies  and  consequently  raise  their  value. 

Now  it  is  clearly  for  the  interest  of  polo  players 
and  breeders  alike  that  the  price  of  trained  ponies 
should  be  lowered  and  that  of  untrained  ones 
increased.  At  present  the  obstacle  in  the  way  of 
breeding  ponies  is  the  low  price  of  the  raw  material. 
It  is  difficult  to  sell  a  four-year-old  pony  at  all,  and  a 
five-year-old  unmade  pony  is  only  worth  ride-and- 
drive  prices  or  a  little  over,  say  from  ^^25  to  £§Oy 
according  to  his  quality.  Some  dealers  do  not  make 
their  ponies  at  all,  or  at  most  put  a  finishing  touch 
on  them,  and  in  consequence  a  polo  pony  passes 
through  many  hands,  and  the  prices  we  hear  of,  which 
strike  every  (One  as  large,  have  had  to  supply  four 
profits  of  which  none  at  all  went  into  the  pocket  of 
the  breeder.  A  four-year-old  pony  bred  on  a  farm 
represents  an  outlay  of  at  least  ;^20,  and  perhaps 
more.  Taking  a  very  moderate  estimate,  a  profit  of 
;^5  on  this  really  only  means  that,  one  animal  with 
another,  the  breeder  makes  no  loss.  But  the  follow- 
ing fact  will  show  that  this  sum  is  about  as  much  as 
the  breeder  gets  as  his  share.  Here  is  one.  A  bred 
a  pony  on  his  farm,  at  five  years  old  he  sold  it  to  B 
for  {ji^,  B  played  it  at  a  local  club  and  hunted  it  and 
sold  it  to  C  for  ^£50.  C  passed  it  on  to  D  for  (,^S'i 
only  keeping  it  a  short  time.     D  played  the  pony 


POLO  PONY  BREEDING  221 

and,  as  it  shaped  well,  sold  it  to  one  of  the  fashion- 
able dealers  for  ;£i50,  who  passed  it  on  to  a  customer 
for  ;£300  after  playing  it  in  several  tournaments.  Now 
this  is  not  an  isolated  case.  With  some  variations  it 
occurs  constantly,  but  it  obviously  affords  insufficient 
encouragement  to  breeders. 

The  result  is  that  we  have  a  large  importation  of 
Argentine  and  American  ponies,  which  are  very  good, 
but  which  have  the  effect  of  keeping  down  the  price 
of  untrained  English  ponies.  If  polo  pony  breeding 
is  ever  to  be  really  successful,  our  polo  governing 
bodies  must  turn  their  attention  to  encouraging  the 
breeders.  All  that  can  be  done  directly  the  P.  and 
R.  P.  S.  do,  by  offering  prizes  and  encouraging 
bending  competitions  to  popularise  the  polo  pony. 
What  is  wanted  now  is  for  polo  players  to  turn  their 
attention  to  encouraging  the  production  of  polo 
ponies.  No  way  would  be  better  than  for  players  to 
undertake,  as  has  been  advised  in  Chapter  VI.,  the 
training  of  their  own  ponies,  and  by  the  adoption  of 
some  scheme  similar  to  that  recommended  by  Major- 
General  Haig,  but  adapted  to  the  circumstances  of 
English  polo. 

It  is  quite  true  that  we  have  succeeded  in  breed- 
ing ponies  of  polo  type  and  showing  them  in  saddle, 
as  the  four  winners  at  Islington  in  the  novice  class 
of  1904  will  make  manifest,  but  all  these  ponies  and 
most  of  the  others  coming  on  are  in  the  hands  of 
men  of  means.  The  P.  and  R.  P.  S.  has  been 
fortunate  in  falling  under  the  control  of  men  who 
made  the  objects  of  the  Society  their  first  aim,  and 


222        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

with  whom  profit  was  only  a  secondary  consideration. 
Such  success  as  has  been  reached  could  only  have 
been  attained  in  this  way.  But  the  time  has  come 
when  it  is  only  common-sense  to  encourage  others  to 
follow  the  lines  the  Society  has  proved  to  be  the 
right  ones,  and  to  seek  a  proiit  in  so  doing.  That 
the  future  of  polo  greatly  depends  on  the  supply  of 
ponies  at  reasonable  prices  being  in  some  way  equal 
to  the  demand,  no  one  can  doubt.  If  trained  ponies 
came  down  to  an  average  of  about  ;£i50,  and 
untrained  ponies  of  promise  rose  to  a  price  of  from 
£^o  to  ;^6o,  the  problem  would  be  solved  and  one 
obstacle  to  the  popularity  of  the  game  removed. 
There  is  a  sufficient  margin  between  the  lower  and 
higher  prices  named,  to  give  ample  profit  to  skill  and 
judgment  in  selecting  and  making  ponies. 

The  value  of  polo  pony  shows  is  unquestionably 
great,  because  there  is  no  doubt  that  one  great 
obstacle  to  the  increase  of  polo  pony  breeding  is  that 
the  farmers  and  others  who  might  take  this  up  with 
advantage  have  no  real  conception  as  to  what  a  polo 
pony  is.  Many  of  the  animals  that  one  sees  at 
shows  in  polo  pony  classes  are  quite  unsuited  for 
the  game  in  any  form.  In  the  same  way  one  is 
often  shown  with  pride  an  animal  that  may  be 
useful  enough  in  its  way,  but  could  never  be  of  the 
least  good  on  the  polo  field.  It  is  most  important 
that  judges  should  be  selected  who  are  acquainted 
with  the  true  type  needed  for  a  polo  pony.  Judges 
who  combine  skill  in  the  game  with  judgment  are 
unquestionably  the  most  suitable,  and  as  a  rule  they 


Ci5 

o 

o 
o 
:^ 

CO    bs 
CO    O 

bj 

o 

a, 

a: 


POLO  PONY  BREEDING  223 

should  be  left  to  handle  their  classes  alone.  At 
polo  pony  shows  single-handed  judging  is  the  best. 
The  judge  has  a  type  in  his  mind  and  adheres  to  it 
throughout,  and  supposing  him  to  be  competent,  he 
not  only  gives  as  much  satisfaction  as  any  man  can 
where  there  are  but  a  limited  number  of  prizes  and 
a  number  of  competitors,  but  his  judgments  are 
instructive  to  the  onlookers. 

These  remarks  apply  only  to  classes  for  ponies 
likely  to  make  polo  ponies,  and  for  made  ponies. 
The  latter  class  is  not  worth  the  money  spent  on  it 
except  in  London,  Liverpool,  or  large  centres.  In 
breeding  classes  two  men,  a  polo  player  and  a  man 
who  makes  a  speciality  of  breeding  classes,  one  who 
has  been  a  breeder  but  has  retired,  give  the  most 
satisfactory  awards.  In  no  case  should  there  ever 
be  three  judges,  since  the  best  may  often  be  out- 
voted. 

Thus  the  game  of  polo  has  enriched  the  country 
with  a  new  and  most  useful  kind  of  horse,  for  peace 
or  war.  The  polo  pony  is  never  out  of  his  place. 
You  can  drive  him,  hack  him,  or  hunt  him,  and 
he  will  do  all  these  well.  The  possessor  of  good 
animals  of  this  type  need  never  stay  at  home  for 
want  of  horses,  if  he  wants  to  do  any  work  a  horse 
can  help  in,  or  enjoy  any  sport  a  horse  can  share. 

Since  writing  the  above  I  have  read  two  im- 
portant publications  which  support  the  view  ex- 
pressed in  this  chapter.  It  is  not  in  accordance 
with  the  plan  of  this  book  to  go  deeply  into  the 
subject  of  breeding.     I  should  like  therefore  to  refer 


224        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

my  readers — First,  to  the  valuable  preface  to  volume 
viii.  of  the  Polo  and  Riding  Pony  Stud  Book^  written 
by  Sir  Richard  Green  Price.  In  these  pages  he  sets 
forth  clearly  the  descent  of  our  polo  pony  stallions 
from  "Walton,"  a  grandson  of  "  Herod "  (1758). 
The  former  inherited  the  notable  staying  power  of 
his  sire  "  Sir  Peter."  In  the  pedigree  of  "  Walton  " 
the  best  Galloway  blood  of  the  period  occurs  re- 
peatedly. Secondly,  to  Mr.  Theodore  Cook's  able 
and  interesting  History  of  the  English  Turf.  The 
remarks  (vol.  ii.  pp.  378  et  seqq.)  on  the  share  of 
the  English  horse  (before  the  importation  of  the 
most  famous  Easterns)  in  the  credit  of  founding 
our  thoroughbred  race  will  come  home  to  every 
polo  pony  breeder.  "  The  old  racing  men  (in  the 
eighteenth  century)  were  rewarded  for  their  per- 
tinacity in  racing  hard  with  the  material  they  had,  by 
suddenly  discovering  that  this  ^lateriaj  crossed  with 
the  imported  Eastern  stock  produced  something  much 
finer  than  either.  .  .  .  What  they  already  had  in  endur- 
ance they  improved  in  speed,  and  what  was  fast  was 
made  to  last  as  well." 


CHAPTER   XII 


THE    POLO    CLUB,    ITS    APPLIANCES    AND    EXPENSES 

This  is  necessarily  a  prosaic  chapter,  but  it  is  on  a 
very  important  topic.  No  doubt  it  will  be  the  one 
to  which  polo  managers  will  turn  first.  The  care 
and  improvement  of  the  ground  is  the  chief  source 
of  prosperity  to  the  club.  Not  only  is  a  rough 
ground  very  discouraging  to  playing  members,  but 
if  your  ground  is  a  bad  one  it  will  be  found  difficult 
to  induce  visiting  teams  to  come  from  a  distance  to 
play  matches  or  to  enter  for  tournaments.  The  type 
of  a  well-designed  and  well-equipped  ground  is  that 
at  the  Ranelagh  Club  known  to  players  as  the  "  old 
ground."  No  pains  or  expense  have  been  spared 
on  it,  and  it  has  had  the  benefit  of  time.  Ten  years 
or  more  of  steady  work  have  done  wonders  for  a 
ground  that  apart  from  its  beautiful  situation  had 

225  Q 


226        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

not  great  natural  advantages.  When  I  first  knew 
the  ground  there  were  some  serious  irregularities. 
These  have  been  removed.  The  corner  nearest  the 
house  was  slippery  and  treacherous.  This  has  been 
since  relaid.  The  club  had  to  contend  against  severe 
drought  during  the  two  seasons  I  was  most  con- 
cerned with  it.  A  dry  season  is  worse  for  the  grass 
of  a  polo  ground  than  a  wet  one.  Far  more  injury 
is  done  by  galloping  on  a  sun-baked  surface  of 
parched  turf  than  by  play  on  it  in  wet  weather.  A 
ground,  it  is  true,  looks  dreadful  after  a  hard  match 
has  been  played  in  a  rainy  season.  If,  however,  the 
treaders  do  their  work  well,  replacing  with  the  hand 
the  clods  of  turf  displaced  by  the  hoofs  of  the  ponies, 
and  the  turf  is  well  rolled,  scarcely  a  trace  will  remain 
on  the  following  day,  and  no  permanent  injury  of  any 
kind  will  be  done  to  the  grass.  In  county  clubs 
the  polo  ground  has  always  the  best-looking  grass 
in  the  neighbourhood. 

A  polo  ground  may  safely  be  used  on  three 
or  four  days  a  week  in  an  ordinary  season,  but  the 
same  amount  of  play  in  hot  rainless  weather  will 
cover  the  ground  with  dry  bare  patches.  Where 
there  is  no  appliance  for  watering  the  ground,  a 
second  ground  would  be  very  useful,  but  perhaps 
that  is  like  the  favourite  prescription  of  the  doctors 
to  hard-worked  people  of  nervous  temperament  and 
small  means,  "  Don't  worry,  and  take  a  complete 
holiday "  ;  most  excellent  but  impracticable  advice. 
A  polo  ground  occupies  about  eleven  acres,  and  it  is 
not  everywhere  that  a  field  of  thirty  acres  or  more 


CLUB  APPLIANCES  AND  EXPENSES   227 

of  level  grass  can  be  procured,  and  this  brings  me 
to  the  question  that  confronts  every  polo  manager. 

The  Choice  of  a  Ground. — In  the  case  of  a  new  club 
those  who  are  entrusted  with  the  first  steps  cannot 
take  too  much  pains  about  this.  The  natural 
advantages  which  should  be  looked  for  are  a  level 
surface,  sound  old  turf,  and  convenience  of  situation. 
If  money  was  no  object  I  should  be  inclined  to  place 
the  last  first.  No  polo  club  ever  succeeds  unless  its 
playing  members  attend  regularly,  and  my  experience 
leads  me  to  think  that  nothing  in  life  is  more  safe  to 
reckon  on,  than  the  dislike  of  mankind  to  incon- 
venience and  trouble.  As  we  have  not  only  a  polo 
ground  to  consider,  but  a  polo  club  to  keep  up,  we 
must  have  sufficient  space.  A  polo  ground  should 
be  as  nearly  300  yards  long  as  possible,  after  allowing 
for  a  margin  beyond  each  goal  of  at  least  40  yards 
between  the  back  line  and  the  nearest  fence.  Thus 
the  polo  field  would  require  to  be  at  least  380  yards 
in  length.  The  breadth  of  a  boarded  ground  is 
laid  down  by  the  Hurlingham  rules  at  160  yards. 
There  should  be  a  clear  margin  of  10  yards  all 
round  the  ground  outside  the  guards  and  boards 
with  an  added  40  yards  at  each  goal  end.  These  ^ 
margins  are  most  important,  and  rather  than  diminish 
them  it  is  better,  if  necessary,  to  reduce  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  part  of  the  ground  devoted 
to  play.  It  is  not  only  that  the  margin  is  neces- 
sary for  safety  but  that  a  cramped  ground  is  bad 
for  both  the  players  and  their  ponies.  If  there 
is  a  fence  or  other  obstacle  too  close  to  the  goals. 


228        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

ponies  and  riders  will  have  a  tendency  to  check 
their  speed  at  the  end  of  a  run,  and  this  spoils  their 
play.  When  once  the  goal-posts  open  out  before  a 
player  there  should  be  nothing  except  these  in  his 
mind.  A  player  galloping  for  the  goal  should,  when 
he  hits  for  the  posts  and  believes  he  has  succeeded 
in  driving  the  ball  between  them,  not  therefore  cease 
to  gallop  until  the  ball  has  actually  rolled  over  the 
line.  The  same  rule  holds  good  for  a  man  who  is 
defending.  The  goal  is  never  won  or  lost  until  the 
ball  is  over  the  line.  Yet  how  often  we  see  men 
pull  up  when  they  have  hit  for  the  posts,  instead  of 
following  up  the  ball,  and  in  the  same  way  goals  are 
often  scored  that  might  have  been  saved,  on  account 
of  slackness  in  riding  on  the  part  of  the  defender. 
At  all  events  no  excuse  should  be  given  for  this,  but 
plenty  of  space  allowed  on  every  side. 

Having  found  a  field  of  sufficient  size,  that  is 
near  enough  to  the  centre  of  the  district  for  the  con- 
venience of  members,  the  next  point  is  to  see  that  the 
surface  is  fairly  level  and  thoroughly  well  drained. 
Nothing  is  worse  than  a  swampy  field.  It  is  plain 
that  a  very  uneven  field  is  unsuitable,  a  slight  slope 
or  even  moderate  ups  and  downs  are  less  objection- 
able, and  where,  as  at  Hurlingham,  the  centre  of  the 
ground  is  the  highest  point,  and  there  is  a  slope  away 
to  either  goal,  it  does  not  matter  so  much.  The 
ground  of  the  Household  Cavalry  at  Datchet,  of 
Eden  Park,  and  of  the  Market  Harborough  Club, 
are  excellent  instances  of  fields  level  by  nature,  which 
have  needed  nothing  but  proper  care  of  the  grass 


CLUB  APPLIANCES  AND  EXPENSES    229 

to  make  them  suitable  for  first-class  polo.  One 
consideration,  however,  will  limit  the  amount  of 
rolling  done,  and  that  is  the  cost  of  the  labour. 
Mr.  T.  Drybrough  has  calculated  that  a  horse 
drawing  a  four-foot  roller  will  have  to  travel  about 
twenty-seven  miles  in  order  to  roll  out  a  polo 
ground  thoroughly.  But  we  may  take  it  that  a 
roller  should  be  used  as  much  as  funds  and  weather 
will  permit.  The  horse  should  wear  boots  similar  to 
those  used  when  lawns  are  being  mowed.  There 
are  various  ways  of  top-dressing  a  field — bones,  slag, 
powdered  earth.  All,  however,  are  liable  to  sow 
undesired  and  unexpected  weeds.  The  simplest  and 
most  effectual  of  all  is  certainly  to  use  your  mowing 
machine  with  the  boxes  off.  This  I  learned  from 
Dr.  Hastings,  and  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  not 
only  does  the  cut  grass  make  an  admirable  top 
dressing,  but  that  a  considerable  proportion,  probably 
more  than  half,  of  the  blades  take  root  downwards 
and  spring  up  to  the  great  advantage  of  the  turf.  I 
do  not  think,  however,  it  is  possible  to  lay  down 
dogmatically  any  particular  form  of  top-dressing  as 
universally  applicable.  This  must  depend  on  the 
soil,  the  climate,  and  on  the  funds  available.  The 
cheapest  and  simplest  method  of  strengthening  the 
turf  is  to  turn  sheep  on  to  the  ground,  never  cattle 
or  horses.  In  the  polo  season  the  ground  should 
depend  on  the  care  of  the  club,  and  no  one  else 
should  be  allowed  to  interfere.  Nor  is  it  desirable 
to  turn  sheep  in  on  the  off  days.  In  the  case  of 
London  clubs  where  labour  is  plentiful,  treaders-in 


230        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

can  be  employed,  and  very  useful  they  are,  but  the 
manager  and  his  groundman  should  always  go  over 
the  ground  in  order  to  assure  themselves  that  the 
clods  cut  out  by  the  ponies'  hoofs  have  been  replaced 
carefully  by  hand,  a  task  the  ordinary  treader-in  is 
apt  to  shirk.  Plantain  and  clover  should  be  care- 
fully extirpated  ;  the  latter  is  especially  dangerous  as 
it  makes  a  slippery  surface.  There  is  one  country 
polo  ground  where,  in  place  of  treaders,  the  squire 
employed  the  schoolboys  to  put  back  the  clods  before 
rolling.  His  wife  soon  received  a  request  from  the 
schoolmistress  that  the  girls  might  be  allowed  to  take 
a  share  of  the  work.  Accordingly  the  girls  were 
given  a  turn,  with  the  utmost  satisfaction  to  them- 
selves and  the  club.  Their  neat  little  fingers  replaced 
the  turf  most  accurately,  and  it  was  unanimously 
voted  that  their  work  was  admirable.  I  believe  that 
sixpence  a-head  was  the  price  paid  in  both  cases.  It  is 
very  light  work,  of  course,  and  needing  care  and 
neatness  more  than  anything  else. 

Not  always,  however,  can  we  secure  good  strong 
turf,  and  it  may  be  that  we  find  the  grass  is  foul 
with  weeds  and  weak  in  growth.  The  best  and 
simplest  method  then  is  to  pen  sheep  on  the 
ground  in  the  winter,  feeding  them  highly.  In 
the  spring  put  a  harrow  over  the  ground,  then  a 
chain  harrow,  and  then  roll  thoroughly,  and  sow 
with  some  of  the  grass  seeds  supplied  for  recreation 
grounds  by  any  good  firm  of  seedsmen.  After  that, 
the  ordinary  cutting  and  rolling.  A  polo  ground, 
however,  repays  the  care  expended  on  it,  as  every 


CLUB  APPLIANCES  AND  EXPENSES    231 

one  who  has  played  on  a  well-kept  ground  knows. 
If  I  was  forming  a  new  club,  I  should  also  try  to 
have  room  for  gymkhanas  without  invading  on  the 
polo  ground,  and  to  have  a  space  which  would  serve 
as  a  practice  ground.  It  is  desirable  that  members 
should  be  able  to  knock  the  ball  about,  and  to  try 
ponies,  but  it  is  most  undesirable  that  they  should 
be  allowed  to  do  these  things  on  the  match  ground. 
I  have  referred  to  gymkhanas,  and  any  provision 
for  these  will  probably  return  the  trouble  and  outlay 
expended  on  them. 

The  boards  are  a  very  important  point  in  the  outfit 
of  the  ground.  The  Americans  call  them  the  "guards," 
a  convenient  and  appropriate  name  we  might  well 
adopt.  The  Hurlingham  Club  first  introduced  the 
boards,  and  they  were  found  to  improve  the  game. 
As  originally  introduced,  the  ball  used  to  hang  under 
the  boards.  Then  at  Ranelagh  we  adopted  the  plan  of 
sloping  the  turf  gently  up  to  the  boards  on  the  inner 
side,  so  that  the  ball  would  not  lie  under  the  boards, 
but  roll  back  to  such  a  distance  as  would  enable  the 
player  to  hit  it  fairly  with  the  mallet  head.  The  boards 
are  planks  usually  of  about  20  feet  in  length,  one  inch 
wide,  and  eleven  inches  high.  The  top  must  be  care- 
fully rounded  or  it  will  cut  the  ponies,  and  I  used 
occasionally  to  walk  along  the  boards  to  see  that  the 
edges  were  smooth  and  that  no  frayed  or  splintered 
sections  were  to  be  found.  The  turf  slope  is  made 
by  cutting  and  raising  the  turf  along  the  boards,  and 
filling  up  with  earth  underneath  until  you  have  the 
turf  within  five  inches  or  so  of  the  top  of  the  guards. 


232        POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Then  the  turf  should  be  carefully  pressed  down  till 
there  is  between  six  and  seven  inches  of  board 
above  the  top  of  the  slope.  When  the  slope  cracks 
away  from  the  boards,  as  it  will  do  in  dry  weather,  a 
man  should  go  round  continually  with  a  box  or  barrel 
of  sifted  earth  and  fill  up  the  interstices.  It  will  save 
much  labour  if  the  polo  manager  sees  that  this  is 
done.  My  own  experience  is  that  the  turf  slope 
requires  a  good  deal  of  care  and  attention  to  keep 
it  in  order.  This  is,  however,  one  of  the  most 
necessary  details  in  the  care  of  a  guarded  ground. 

Most  clubs  have  a  small  lawn-mower  to  keep 
the  grass  short  on  the  slopes.  The  Ranelagh 
Club  was  the  first  in  London  to  adopt  slopes, 
but  the  idea  I  believe  originally  came  from  Edin- 
burgh. The  boards  of  course  are  only  along  the 
sides  of  the  parallelogram.  The  back  and  goal 
lines  are  marked  out  with  white  lime -wash  by  a 
tennis-marker.  Care  should  be  taken  to  see  that  the 
line  is  marked  straight  and  that  the  goal-posts  are 
exactly  24  feet  apart.  The  paper  goal-posts  made  at 
Willesden  are  the  best  I  have  ever  seen,  and  the 
Ranelagh  plan  of  standing  them  in  zinc  cases  is  most 
effective  in  preserving  the  posts.  The  new  rules 
make  it  advisable  to  mark  out  a  line  at  30  yards,  and 
again  at  60  yards  from  the  goal-line  or  that  line 
produced.  For  matches  the  centre  of  the  ground 
may  be  marked,  but  in  ordinary  games  managers  and 
umpires  should  be  careful  not  to  throw  in  the  ball 
always  from  the  same  spot,  lest  the  middle  of  the 
ground  be  worn  into  bare  and  ugly  patches. 


^ 


o 

o 

Oh 

:::: 
o 

Oh 


CLUB  APPLIANCES  AND  EXPENSES    233 

The  ground  having  been  thus  marked  out  and 
brought  into  order,  the  next  thing  is  to  provide  for 
the  spectators,  and  for  those  players  who  are  waiting 
their  turn.  Some  kind  of  pavilion  is  desirable. 
Here  I  may  refer  my  readers  to  the  plan  of  the  Rane- 
lagh  pavilion,  drawn  expressly  for  this  book.  It  may 
not  be  possible  to  carry  it  out  in  every  detail,  but 
the  study  of  it  will  be  far  more  instructive  than 
any  amount  of  description. 

When  there  is  no  particular  reason  for  building  a 
pavilion  in  any  one  situation,  it  should,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, be  so  arranged  that  the  spectators  should  have 
their  backs  to  the  setting  sun.  I  feel  a  difficulty  in 
giving  advice  about  the  accommodation  to  be  provided, 
because  so  much  must  depend  on  the  expenditure 
possible.  Two  excellent  small  pavilions  are  those  at 
Stansted  (on  the  Silver  Leys  Ground)  and  at  Eden 
Park.  Liverpool  has  a  very  neat  pavilion  with  taste- 
ful surroundings.  If  there  is  a  pavilion  at  all,  there 
should  be  dressing-  and  bath-rooms  with  hot  and  cold 
water  laid  on,  if  possible.  In  country  clubs  there 
might  be  a  tea-tent  for  ladies,  until  a  separate  tea- 
room and  possibly  ladies'  drawing-room,  as  at  Roe- 
hampton,  can  be  added.  At  Ranelagh  the  members* 
bath-rooms  have  every  comfort  and  luxury,  includ- 
ing a  shampooer  always  in  attendance.  But  the  best 
thing  of  all  about  the  Ranelagh  pavilion  is,  that  it  has 
such  a  well-arranged  front  from  which  to  see  a  first- 
rate  polo  match. 

To  the  marking-board  I  have  referred  below.  All 
that  is  now  wanted  is  a  bell  to  ring  at  the  end  of  the 


234        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

periods,  and  in  the  pavilion  a  supply  of  umpires' 
whistles.  Reversible  waistcoats  of  red  and  blue, 
which  are  used  to  mark  the  sides,  should  also  be  kept. 
At  one  time  it  was  difficult  to  induce  the  players  to 
wear  a  distinctive  mark,  but  now  it  is  so  great  a  con- 
venience to  themselves,  as  well  as  to  the  spectators,  to 
see  at  a  glance  which  side  a  player  belongs  to,  that  the 
jackets  are  readily  accepted  and  worn.  The  Americans 
require  the  wearing  of  colours  by  the  teams,  as  one  of 
the  rules  of  polo,  and  this  is  an  excellent  plan.  But 
there  is  still  one  more  requirement,  which  is  of  more 
importance  to  country  clubs  than  to  town  ones.  At 
Hurlingham  and  at  Ranelagh  where  many  of  the 
ponies  are  stabled  in  or  near  the  club  grounds,  and 
the  trees  are  wide  and  spreading,  there  is  no  very 
great  need  for  shelter  ;  but  in  country  clubs  where 
people  often  come  some  distance,  I  think  that  there 
should  be  a  few  stalls  and  some  shelter,  however 
rough  and  simple,  for  carriages.  Ours  is  an  uncertain 
climate  and  something  of  the  kind  is  necessary  to  the 
prosperity  of  the  club,  but  this  need  not  be  a  matter 
of  great  expense.  Chairs  for  ladies,  and  little  tables 
for  tea,  are  sure  to  be  wanted,  especially  on  tourna- 
ment or  gymkhana  days.  As  to  servants,  there  must 
be  at  least  one  groundman  to  be  responsible  for  the 
labour  work,  and  a  lad  to  help  him.  If  you  find  an 
efficient  man  he  is  worth  good  pay.  The  lad  is  to 
mark  the  scores  and  ring  the  bell  under  the  orders 
of  the  polo  manager  or  secretary.  This  is  the  stafF 
absolutely  necessary  to  a  polo  ground. 

In  the  present  day  when  there  are  a  large  number 


CLUB  APPLIANCES  AND  EXPENSES  235 

of  polo  clubs  springing  up  all  over  the  country,  and 
perhaps  even  more  that  would  be  founded  if  the  fear 
of  expense  did  not  stand  in  the  way,  it  may  not  be 
amiss  to  consider  what  expenses  we  can  do  without. 
After  all  the  great  thing  is  to  play  polo.  Supposing 
that  I  were  to  start  a  club  where  every  sixpence  had 
to  be  considered,.!  should  think  over  what  was  in- 
dispensable. There  must  be  a  field  with  space  to  lay 
out  a  polo  ground.  Mowing  and  rolling  must  be 
done,  but  an  arrangement  might  be  made  with  a 
neighbouring  farmer,  so  that  there  need  be  no  capital 
ouday  for  mowers,  rollers,  or  horses.  Tents  might 
be  pitched  during  the  season,  dressing-rooms  or  a 
portable  house  set  up.  Goal-posts  there  must  be,  but 
a  blackboard  and  a  bit  of  chalk  will  do  for  the  score. 
1  think  there  should  be  guards  if  possible,  but  Ciren- 
cester manages  to  play  a  most  excellent  game  and 
to  train  many  good  players  without  them.  If  the 
boards  are  objected  to,  either  on  account  of  the  first 
cost  or  the  upkeep,  then  the  ground  should  be  as 
nearly  300  yards  by  200  as  the  circumstances  will 
permit  (see  plan  of  300  x  160  boarded  ground).  Of 
course,  many  of  our  best  players  learned  in  India 
without  boards.  Colonel  De  Lisle,  Captain  Gordon 
Renton,  Major  Maclaren,  the  late  Colonel  Le  Gallais, 
and  many  others  did  so.  I  have  already  pointed  out 
why  it  is  that  guards  improve  the  game,  but  they  can- 
not be  said  to  be  necessary.  The  expenses  of  in- 
dividual members  are  their  own  affair,  but  I  think  a 
polo  club  often  brings  more  money  into  a  district  than 
it    takes   out.     It  is  sometimes    said  that  the  pony- 


236        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

dealing  element  will  be  too  strong  in  country  clubs, 
but  I  do  not  see  why  this  should  be  so.  No  one, 
with  very  few  exceptions,  who  plays  polo  is  averse 
from  turning  an  honest  penny  by  his  ponies.  It 
is  good  for  polo  to  have  more  ponies,  it  is  good 
for  farmers  to  make  money  whenever  they  can. 
Nothing  brings  people  together  more  than  polo. 
Not  even  hunting  is  such  a  leveller,  and  nothing 
spreads  horsemanship  so  effectually  as  learning  to 
play  polo.  Anything  that  makes  life  in  the 
country  more  interesting  and  attractive  is  a  gain. 
Every  club  should,  however,  regard  two  expenses  as 
indispensable,  affiliation  to  the  County  Polo  Associa- 
tion, and  a  visit  from  the  Hurlingham  official 
measurer.  There  is  no  greater  mistake  than  to  be 
careless  about  the  height  of  ponies.  Every  pony  that 
plays  should  have  a  Hurlingham  certificate.  To 
enforce  this  is  no  hardship  on  the  individual  owner, 
since  it  adds  to  the  pony's  value.  I  think  many 
people  regard  the  official  measurer  with  unnecesary 
dread.  Mr.  Sheather  has  no  desire  to  reject  a  pony. 
On  the  contrary  he  regards  it  as  his  duty  to  measure 
a  pony  if  he  can.  The  rejections  are  wonderfully  few 
in  proportion  to  the  number  of  ponies  offered  for 
measurement.  People  often  think  a  pony  will  not 
measure  when  he  is  in  fact  well  under  height.  The 
whole  system  of  measuring  and  registration  of  ponies 
under  Hurlingham  rules  has  been  made  as  fair  as  is 
possible.  The  more  I  study  the  question  the  more 
convinced  I  am  that  there  is  very  little  "  faking  "  done, 
and  very  little  chance  of  its  succeeding  if  attempted. 


CLUB  APPLIANCES  AND  EXPENSES    237 

As  to  the  amount  of  the  subscription,  that  depends 
on  several  points,  the  rent  of  the  ground,  the 
amount  of  attention  it  requires,  the  number  of 
players.  The  actual  subscriptions  for  existing  clubs, 
excepting  Hurlingham  and  Ranelagh,  which  offer 
many  other  advantages  besides  polo,  range  from  ten 
guineas  at  Roehampton  (the  last  named  club  accepts 
soldiers  at  five  guineas)  down  to  two  guineas  at 
Worcester.  Most  polo  clubs  elect  non-playing 
members  at  from  a  guinea  to  ten  shillings  a  year. 
The  subscription  which  will  generally  suffice  for  a 
country  club  is  from  £,2- 3^-  ^^  £>5'  5^-  ^^r  playing, 
and  ;^i  for  non-playing  members.  I  find  that  out 
of  thirty-five  county  clubs,  five  take  ten  guineas, 
three  have  a  subscription  under  ten  and  above  five, 
four  have  five  guineas,  three  require  four  guineas, 
ten  three  guineas,  and  only  nine  demand  entrance 
fees.  But  I  think  an  annual  subscription  of  three 
guineas  with  an  entrance  fee  of  one  pound  will  be 
found  enough  in  most  cases.  The  original  outlay 
will  amount  to  about  £150,  and  is  generally  met  by 
a  special  subscription  among  the  founders  of  the 
club.  But  it  is  difficult  to  lay  down  a  hard  and  fast 
rule,  for  the  expenses  of  polo  clubs  necessarily  vary 
greatly. 

In  a  first-class  club  in  London  they  are  heavy,  the 
cost  of  labour  alone  making  a  very  serious  item  in 
the  annual  balance  sheet.  The  following  figures 
may  be  taken  as  approximate  estimates  of  the  ex- 
penses of  a  London  club.  To  keep  the  ground 
in   order  means  an   expenditure   of  about  ;£2oo  a 


238        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

year,  divided  as  follows  : — Labour  on  the  ground 
for  12  months,  £111  ',  keep  of  a  horse,  ;^40  ;  wear 
and  tear  of  rollers,  lawn-mowers,  etc.,  j[^20  ;  pavilion 
expenses  during  the  season,  £10  ;  sundries,  such  as 
markers,  whitening,  renewal  and  repair  of  goal-posts, 
painting  the  boards,  about  ;^io.  Li  addition  to  this 
are  the  polo  balls,  a  heavy  expense.  The  cost  of 
balls  at  one  club  for  two  grounds  in  constant  use 
is  from  £66  to  ;^ioo.  The  polo  ball  is  made  of 
willow  root,  and  a  year's  supply  should  be  ordered  in 
advance.  The  balls  when  first  they  come  from  the 
makers  are  too  green,  and  will  be  much  more  satis- 
factory if  they  are  kept  until  they  are  thoroughly 
seasoned.  I  have  said  nothing  about  the  expense  of 
watering,  which  is,  however,  considerable,  whether  you 
have  to  pump  the  water  on  to  the  ground  or  it  is 
laid  on  from  the  local  water  supply,  as  imperfect 
or  partial  watering,  except  a  slight  sprinkling  to  lay 
the  dust,  is  worse  than  nothing.  Where  there  are 
no  means  of  watering  the  ground,  the  manager 
must  trust  to  the  rain.  The  ground  benefits  greatly 
by  steady  watering  in  the  autumn  months.  When 
the  soil  is  moist  the  earthworms  do  their  work,  and 
the  roller  should  not  be  used  immediately  after 
rain.  It  makes  the  worm-casts  into  a  paste  which 
smothers  the  tender  grasses.  The  common  earth- 
worm is  indeed  the  most  valuable  ally  of  the  polo 
manager.  In  the  first  place  the  holes  he  makes  in 
the  ground  are  a  natural  drainage  and  carry  the 
surface  water  to  the  roots  of  the  plants.  Nor  is 
this    all,    for    if  we  allow    the   worm-casts    to    dry 


CLUB  APPLIANCES  AND  EXPENSES  239 

sufficiently  to  be  brushed  over   the  surface  of  the 
ground  by  a  bush-harrow,  we  shall  find  that  this  is, 
in  fact,  the  best  possible  top-dressing  for  the  grass. 
The  worm-casts  contain  an  immense  number  of  tiny 
seeds,   a  proportion   of  which   sow  themselves  and 
strengthen  the  grass.      That  this  is  so  is  shown  by 
an  interesting  experiment.     A  number  of  worm-casts 
were  collected  and  placed  in  a  shallow  pan  ;  in  due 
course  there  was  a  minature  lawn  made  by  the  seeds 
which  were  in  the  worm-casts  springing  up.     This 
of  course  applies  equally  to  the  ground  which  has 
the  advantage  of  a  supply  of  water  and  the  means 
of  pumping  it  on  to  the  ground,  and  to  those  which 
are  obliged  to  depend  on  the  showers  of  rain.     The 
use  of  the  bush-harrow  and  the  roller  afterwards  are 
the  best  means  of  strengthening  the  grass,  and  are 
far  better  than  artificial  top-dressing.     The  continual 
mowing  and  rolling  to  which  a  well-cared-for  polo 
ground    is    subjected    tend    to    destroy   the   coarser 
weeds,  and  preserve  the   short  firm  texture  of  the 
turf,  by  favouring  in  the  struggle  for  existence  the 
kinds  which   are    most    useful   to    us.     But  useful 
and    simple    as    these    methods    of   improving   the 
ground  are,  they  are   not  the   only  ones   desirable. 
There   are   in    almost    every   ground,   until   it   has 
thoroughly  matured  by  years  of  care  and  work  on  the 
lines  suggested  above,  patches  of  weakly  and  unsatis- 
factory turf.     These  must,  if  possible,  be  cut  out  and 
relaid.     In  a  secluded  corner  of  the  park  at  Ranelagh 
there  is  a  nursery  for  turf,  where  carefully  tended 
grass  forms  a  space  from  which  the  turf  can  be  cut 


240        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

in  order  to  relay  polo  grounds,  croquet  lawns,  or  golf 
greens.  This  grass  reserve,  sown  with  the  best  seeds 
and  carefully  tended,  is  a  most  valuable  factor  in  the 
perfection  of  the  grounds,  lawns,  and  greens. 

People  often  ask  with  what  manure  they  shall 
improve  their  grass,  but  there  is  no  manure  which 
does  not  do  harm  as  well  as  good,  although  in 
some  cases  it  be  necessary  to  use  it.  Nor  is  every 
dressing  suited  for  every  soil,  but  the  water,  the 
cutter  (not  a  motor,  they  do  not  answer  at  present), 
the  bush-harrow,  and  the  earthworms  will  do  all  that 
is  required  in  most  cases,  provided  also  that  the 
grounds  be  carefully  tended  and  the  wounds  of  hard 
play  carefully  treated  as  suggested  above. 

We  have  glanced  at  the  expenses  of  a  first-class 
club.  I  now  give  those  of  a  very  well  managed 
county  club,  the  members  of  which  play  two  or 
three  times  a  week  from  May  until  September. 

The  annual  subscription  is  {ji  :  2s.  for  playing 
members,  for  non-playing  los.  6d.  The  expendi- 
ture is  rather  under  ^^loo  a  year.  The  secretary  of 
this  club  has  not  counted  the  annual  gymkhana 
meeting,  as  he  points  out  that  this  cannot  be  regarded 
as  a  source  of  income  ;  indeed,  if  the  day  happens  to 
be  wet  there  may  be  a  loss  instead  of  gain. 

Perhaps,  after  all,  a  polo  club  depends  for  its  success 
most  of  all  upon  its  manager.  How  much  Hurling- 
ham,  for  example,  has  owed  to  its  first  polo  managers, 
Sir  Walter  Smythe  in  the  past,  and  to  Major  Egerton 
Green  and  Mr.  St.  Quintin  in  the  present,  it  would 
be  difficult  to  say,  and  all  over  the  country  there  are 


iS 


•  < 


SCORI.WG  BOARDS  ON  Nos.  2  &  3  GROUNDS  AT  RANELAGH. 


CLUB  APPLIANCES  AND  EXPENSES   241 

men  who,  by  their  enthusiasm  manifested  in  real  hard 
work,  have  made  prosperous  clubs.  If  it  was  not 
for  the  volunteer  managers,  polo  would  not  be  the 
prosperous  game  it  is. 

I  have  provided  a  picture  of  the  scoring-board  at 
Ranelagh,  which  is  the  most  useful  form  of  machine 
for  that  purpose.  The  names  of  the  players  are  shown 
under  the  designation  of  the  team  or  club  which  they 
represent.  The  clock  face  shows  how  long  the  match 
has  been  in  progress,  while  the  period  being  played 
and  the  state  of  the  score  can  be  seen  at  a  glance. 
The  scoring-machine  being  at  the  side  of  the  pavilion 
is  not  visible  to  all  the  spectators.  There  should  be 
a  simpler  board  on  the  side  opposite  to  the  pavilion, 
showing  in  large  figures  the  period  being  played  and 
the  state  of  the  score.  The  convenience  of  this  to 
spectators  on  a  pavilion  is  very  great,  and  if  economy 
was  an  object,  two  blackboards  and  a  piece  of  chalk 
might  be  made  to  serve  the  purpose.  But  in  some 
form  or  another  this  second  exhibition  of  the  score 
should  be  used  at  every  well-managed  club,  because 
it  is  obviously  impossible  so  to  place  your  scoring- 
board  that  it  shall  be  visible  to  every  one  on  the 
different  sides. 

Making  a  small  beginning,  and  increasing  its  ex- 
penses and  conveniences  as  the  number  of  its  members 
grows  and  its  income  enlarges,  the  small  county  club 
may  in  a  few  years  become,  like  Catterick  Bridge,  or 
Fremington,  or  Cirencester,  or  the  Blackmore  Vale, 
centres  of  society  and  sport  to  the  whole  neighbour- 
hood. 

R 


CHAPTER    XIII 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    TWENTY    YEARS 


It  was,  I  think,  in  1880  that  I  first  made  a  close 
acquaintance  with  polo.  Before  that  I  had  indeed 
seen  it  played  at  Hurlingham,  but  of  that  I  have  no 
very  clear  recollection.  I  knew  nothing  of  the  game. 
The  progress  of  a  polo  match  was  not  so  easy  to 
follow  in  those  days  as  it  is  now.  It  was  by  no 
means  the  orderly  and  scientific  game  it  is  to-day. 
The  man  to  whom  I  owe  my  first  knowledge  of  the 
game  was  a  friendly  gunner  at  Karachi.  He  put  a 
stick  into  my  hand  and,  telling  me  to  keep  on  the 
ball,  left  me  to  learn  the  rest  myself.  As  the  only 
pony  I  had  was  a  very  sulky  one,  this  was  easier  said 
than  done.  My  mentor  proceeded  shortly  afterwards 
to  bowl  me  over,  as  my  pony  would  not  get  out  of 
the  way,  and  his  pony,  a  great  dun  Kattywar,  would 
not  stop.  This  showed  me  that  it  was  advisable  at 
all  events  not  to  be  in  the  way  of  other  players,  and  to 
avoid  standing  over  the  ball.  We  had  a  hard  matter 
to  keep  the  game  going  from  want  of  players,*  but 


242 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF  TWENTY  YEARS  243 

several  of  us  were  bitten  with  enthusiasm  for  it,  and 
generally  managed  to  make  up  a  game  on  two  days 
in  a  week.  The  possession  of  a  couple  of  ponies 
encouraged  me.  These  were  the  first  of  a  long  suc- 
cession of  animals,  good,  bad,  and  indifferent,  that 
have  passed  through  my  hands  since  then.  Thus,  in 
the  happy-go-lucky  way  of  the  time,  I  picked  up 
some  knowledge  of  the  game,  and  gained  some  power 
of  hitting  the  ball,  and  improved,  as  all  players  must 
do,  in  horsemanship.  We  tumbled  about  pretty  often, 
but  I  only  recollect  one  accident  in  those  early  days 
that  was  at  all  serious.  On  the  whole,  we  fell  more 
and  hurt  ourselves  less  than  we  did  afterwards. 
Yet  polo  was  a  rough  game.  You  might  hustle  as 
much  as  you  liked,  might,  in  fact,  do  anything  except 
hit  another  player  with  your  stick.  I  am  afraid  our 
methods  would  make  any  self-respecting  umpire  of 
the  present  day  blow  his  heart  into  his  whistle.  But 
we  enjoyed  ourselves,  and  if  every  one  looked  forward 
as  much  as  we  did  to  the  polo  days,  and  enjoyed 
them  as  thoroughly  when  they  came,  they  would  • 
have  some  pleasant  recollections. 

So  far  as  we  kept  any  places  at  all,  we  put  the 
light  weights  and  fast  ponies  forward,  and  the  heavier 
men  and  slower  ponies  to  keep  goal.  There  was  no 
offside,  and  the  back  of  those  days  never  came  into 
the  game,  or  rather  was  not  supposed  to  do  so,  but 
if  any  one  had  possession  of  the  ball  he  kept  it  as 
long  as  he  could.  Stick-crooking  was  practised,  but 
was  not  regarded  with  much  favour.  One  of  the 
most  effective  players  we  had,^  Captain  Orr,  of  the 


244        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Engineers,  played  with  a  short,  heavy  stick,  and 
leaning  forward  dribbled  the  ball.  We  all,  I  think, 
took  the  ball  round.  Backhanders  were  unknown. 
The  first  regular  match  we  played  in  Karachi  was 
against  a  team  of  the  15th,  and  one  of  this  team, 
Captain,  now  Colonel,  Cecil  Garnett,  an  excellent 
player,  a  keen  hog-hunter,  and  most  charming  com- 
panion, now  commands  the  regiment.  Major-General 
Bruce  Hamilton  was  a  subaltern  in  the  regiment  and 
played  sometimes.  We  were  beaten  also  by  the  3rd 
Cavalry  of  the  Hyderabad  contingent,  a  brilliant 
team,  with  two  native  officers  who  could  hit  the  ball 
from  any  position,  and  were  among  the  best  players 
I  had  seen. 

I  possessed  at  that  time  a  grey  mare  that  was,  I 
think,  as  good  a  pony  as  ever  looked  through  a 
bridle  ;  she  was  very  fast,  very  handy,  played  per- 
fectly in  a  snaffle-bridle.  I  never  have  ridden  any 
pony  so  easy  to  play  on.  We  were  not  great  at 
near-side  strokes  in  those  days,  and  they  were,  I 
think,  rather  regarded  as  an  attempt  at  swagger,  but 
this  mare  could  follow  the  ball,  and  as  it  bumped 
and  twisted  on  the  rather  uneven  plain,  she  would 
swing  gently  as  it  were  and  give  you  a  fair  chance  to 
hit  it.  But  she  was,  though  perfectly  quiet  when 
mounted,  the  greatest  savage  I  have  ever  known 
in  the  stable,  and  when  you  were  dismounted. 
You  had  to  be  smart  in  mounting  her,  for  she  was 
very  handy  with  her  forefeet,  hitting  out  at  you 
right  and  left,  and  a  blow  from  her  was  not  soon 
forgotten.      She  was   quieter    before   I   parted  with 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF  TWENTY  YEARS  245 

her,  but  I  never  was  on  as  good  terms  with  her  as 
with  the  general  run  of  my  ponies. 

A  stay  at  Quetta  opened  up  to  us  a  new  view  of 
polo.  Mr.  John  Watson  and  the  13  th  Hussars  were 
there,  and  we  learned  a  more  orderly  and  in  every 
way  a  more  scientific  game.  We  were  taught  the 
value  of  the  backhander  ;  we  organised  a  handicap 
tournament,  respected  offside,  and  in  many  ways 
became  more  civilised  in  our  polo.  At  that  time 
Major  Maclaren  was  a  junior  subaltern,  but  even 
then  playing  well,  and  I  think  Major  Capel  Cure 
joined  the  Gloucestershire  Regiment  at  the  station 
and  speedily  gave  promise  of  the  brilliant  play  he 
was  afterwards  to  show.  General  Baden-Powell  was 
also  at  Quetta,  but  I  do  not  recollect  his  playing 
polo,  though  I  do  remember  his  talents  on  the  stage, 
with  which  he  kept  a  very  dull  station  alive. 

The  close  of  the  war  in  Afghanistan  may  be 
taken  as  the  date  of  the  rise  of  modern  polo  in  India. 
It  was  my  fortune  to  be  transferred  from  Bombay  to 
the  North  of  India  just  at  the  time  when  the  game  was 
developing  there.  I  spent  the  next  ten  years  in  the 
Panjab,  and  three  of  these  on  the  Frontier.  In  those 
days  the  Frontier  Force  was  a  strictly  irregular  one. 
It  was  under  the  control  of  the  Lieutenant-Governor 
of  the  Panjab.  The  Commander-in-Chief  in  India 
had  nothing  to  do  with  it.  The  officers  were  picked 
men  selected  from  any  presidency  and  any  regiment. 
Once  on  the  Frontier  you  stayed  there  for  life,  pro- 
motion going  within  the  Force.  It  was  in  those 
days  a  splendid  body  of  officers  and  men,  and  to 


246        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

have  been  with  the  "  PifFers  "  even  for  a  time  is  a 
recollection  that  will  last  always.  The  climate  was 
hot,  but  not  unhealthy,  and  the  exile  was  compensated 
by  an  extra  month  of  leave.  Polo  flourished  in  the 
cold  weather,  and  racquets  at  all  times.  There  was 
no  railway  beyond  Chichawatni.  I  was  informed 
that  part  of  my  duty  would  consist  in  travelling  up 
and  down  the  Frontier  from  Bunnu  to  Rajanpur. 
So  I  determined  to  combine  polo  and  work,  and 
thereupon  bought  eight  ponies  from  an  officer  going 
home.  These  were  all  trained  to  harness,  and  with 
two  useful  animals  in  an  old  bamboo  cart  to  carry 
the  heavy  luggage,  I  proceeded  to  test  my  travelling 
equipment,  by  driving  a  tandem  of  polo  ponies  the 
190  miles  that  intervened  between  Chichawatni  and 
Dera  Ismail  Khan.  The  journey  was  safely  per- 
formed, though  the  roads  were  somewhat  rough. 
For  three  years,  until  an  accident  which  practically 
ended  the  best  of  my  polo  career,  I  drove  my  ponies 
up  and  down  the  Frontier,  enjoying  the  rough  roads 
and  the  dawk  bungalows  even,  and  looking  forward 
to  polo  at  the  end,  and  picking  up  what  there  might 
be  of  sport  on  the  way. 

The  Frontier  officers  of  that  day  were  delightful 
friends  and  comrades,  and  keen  for  every  sport.  I 
lived  for  one,  possibly  two,  hot  weathers  at  the  mess 
of  the  1st  Panjab  Cavalry.  I  think  at  first  I  for- 
gathered with  them  because  they  were  keener  about 
polo  than  the  other  regiments.  There  were  Colonel 
David  Cunningham,  Major  Western,  Colonel 
O'Mealey,  Captain,  afterwards  Colonel,  T.  Shepherd, 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF  TWENTY  YEARS  247 

Major  Peter  Haig,  all  as  keen  as  they  could  be,  and 
not  unwilling  to  welcome  another  enthusiast.  We 
played  polo  at  first  on  a  flat  ground  near  the  Indus, 
but  latterly  we  made  a  grass  ground  under  the  walls 
of  the  fort,  on  which  the  rapid  changes  of  Indian  life 
prevented  many  of  us  from  playing.  Like  the  good 
husbandmen  in  the  Latin  book,  we  planted  grass  of 
which  we  ourselves  were  never  destined  to  enjoy  the 
fruits.  The  game  we  played  was,  I  think,  a  fast  one, 
though  it  would  be  considered  a  little  rough  nowa- 
days. The  ball  travelled  well  when  the  ground  was 
in  good  condition.  My  ponies  were  kept  very  fit 
by  their  constant  journeys.  Indeed,  we  became  so 
well  known  on  the  Frontier  roads  that  it  was  a  joke, 
that  when  my  leader's  head  was  seen  coming  round 
the  corner,  the  Khansama's  fowls  fled  to  the  jungle 
knowing  what  would  happen.  Apparently  they  did 
not  make  good  their  escape,  for  at  all  events  the 
menu  was  always  chicken  soup,  ditto  cutlets,  ditto 
roast,  ditto  curry.  The  climate  in  the  winter  was 
delightful,  and  polo,  racquets,  a  weekly  gymkhana, 
and  a  dance  whenever  there  were  more  than  five 
ladies  in  the  station — once  when  there  were  six  we 
thought  of  a  fancy  dress  ball — made  life  pleasant 
enough. 

There  was  some  of  the  old  Frontier  interest  about 
the  life.  I  think  when  I  first  went  to  Dera  Ismail 
that  half  a  troop  of  cavalry  was  sent  out  to  a  sort  of 
outlying  stable  every  day,  where  the  horses  were  kept 
saddled  all  night,  and  the  men  lay  down  beside  them 
in  case  of  a  raid.     I  remember,  too,  the  accidental 


248        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

discovery  of  a  plot  at  Bannu  to  carry  off  an  English 
lady  to  the  hills,  which  were  but  a  few  miles  away. 
I  made,  too,  my  first  appearance  as  a  judge  at  one  of 
the  Frontier  horse  shows.  At  that  time  the  Norfolk 
trotters  had  not  been  allowed  to  spoil  the  horses 
of  the  native  breeders.  There  were  nothing  but  Arab 
and  thoroughbred  sires  sent  by  Government,  and  the 
stamp  of  horse  on  which  our  Frontier  cavalry,  par- 
ticularly the  5th,  were  mounted,  could  not  be  improved 
for  light  cavalry.  Strangely  enough,  the  Frontier 
ponies  were  no  good  for  polo,  and  though  in  common 
with  others  I  bought  two  or  three,  yet  the  best  of 
them  was  not  much  use.  I  remember  the  late 
Bishop  French  of  Lahore,  a  man  who  was  justly 
venerated  for  his  great  learning,  his  zeal  and  saintli- 
ness,  helping  me  to  buy  one  handsome  pony  of  a 
Pathan,  for  the  Bishop  knew  not  only  the  ordinary 
Pushtoo  but  most  of  the  dialects.  This  pony  never 
could  be  kept  on  a  polo  ground,  though  as  leader  in 
a  tandem  he  went  well  and  steadily.  One  other 
Frontier  pony  I  had,  and  she  was  not  bad  on  the 
ground,  but  was  so  nervous  and  evidently  disliked 
the  game  so  much  that  it  was  no  pleasure  to  play 
her.  One  must,  I  think,  feel  that  the  pony  is  enjoy- 
ing the  game  as  well  as  oneself  to  draw  the  full 
pleasure  out  of  polo.  I  bought  the  mare  from  a 
good  polo  player,  and  I  do  not  think  that  she  had 
ever  been  ill-used,  but  there  are  some  nervous, 
timid  ponies,  who  are,  like  similar  individuals  among 
men,  unsuited  to  rough  games. 

But  we  bought   few  local  ponies,  most  of  ours 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF  TWENTY  YEARS  249 

coming  from  Batesar  or  Amritsar  fairs.  Captain 
0*Mealey  generally  brought  back  a  batch  when  he 
went  to  buy  horses  for  the  regiment.  One  reason 
for  the  efficiency  of  the  Frontier  cavalry  was  that 
they  bought  their  own  horses  and  had  nothing  to 
do  with  any  remount  department.  Luckily,  nearly 
all  the  men  who  were  sent  out  to  buy  horses,  as  being 
the  best  judges,  were  also  keen  polo  players,  so  that 
they  took  the  greatest  interest  in  the  commissions  to 
bring  back  ponies  for  those  of  us  who  were  unable  to 
leave  the  station. 

I  came  back  to  England  in  1883,  and  it  may  be 
imagined  how  eagerly  the  English  polo  was  studied. 
Several  points  struck  me  at  the  time,  but  the  boards 
introduced  a  new  and  to  me  a  puzzling  element.  I 
thought  that  the  Indian  game  was  the  faster  of  the 
two,  but  English  polo  was  more  scientific.  The 
Champion  Cup  and  the  Inter-Regimental  which  took 
place  while  I  was  at  home  in  1884  were  notable  for 
the  fact  that  the  former  was  won  by  the  Freebooters, 
a  club  founded  by  Mr.  John  Watson,  and  of  which 
he  was  captain,  and  that  Captain  T.  Hone  played  in 
that  team  and  in  the  regimental  team  of  the  7  th 
Hussars.  I  do  not  think  the  same  man  has  ever 
before  or  since  played  in  the  winning  team  of  both 
our  leading  tournaments.  I  was  struck  by  the  great 
mastery  of  the  ball  Mr.  John  Watson  displayed.  He 
had  made  long  strides  since  his  Indian  days.  This  was 
before  other  duties  and  the  accident  to  one  of  his 
eyes  had  to  a  certain  extent  drawn  him  away  from 
polo.     He  was  on  the  Hurlingham  Committee,  and 


250        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

I  think  exercised  a  wholesome  restraining  influence 
against  the  tendency  to  over -legislate  for  the 
game. 

I  found  myself,  however,  impressed  with  my  own 
ignorance  of  polo,  and  this  was  perhaps  inevitable 
considering  the  rough-and-ready  way  in  which  the 
ordinary  civilian  learned  the  game  in  India.  It  has 
already  been  told  how  a  raw  man  with  any  rough 
pony  was  invited  to  play  and  instructed  to  keep 
on  the  ball.  All  the  rest  depended  on  one's  own 
enthusiasm  and  perseverance.  In  one  matter,  how- 
ever, I  thought,  and  still  think,  we  had  not  much  to 
learn.  We  trained  our  own  ponies  in  India,  took  a 
good  deal  of  pains  in  the  process,  and  were  successful. 
There  is,  as  I  have  written  elsewhere,  no  training 
like  that  which  the  man  gives  who  purposes  that 
he  himself  should  play  the  ponies  he  educates.  For 
some  years  I  took  seven  or  eight  ponies  out  in  the 
early  morning,  and  gave  each  of  them  ten  minutes  or 
a  quarter  of  an  hour's  practice,  the  latter  being  quite 
long  enough  for  a  pony  at  any  one  time. 

When  I  returned  to  India  a  most  fortunate  chance 
led  me  to  Ferozepore,  one  of  the  pleasantest  stations 
in  the  Panjab,  and  luck  brought  me  there  at  the 
same  time  as  the  East  Lancashire  Regiment,  probably 
one  of  the  most  sporting  regiments  in  the  service,  as 
it  is  in  all  other  ways  distinguished.  One  of  those 
curious  coincidences  which  sometimes  occur  greeted 
me  when  I  first  visited  the  polo  ground.  There  was 
among  the  players  another  man  of  my  name,  the  late 
Major  (then   Captain)  Dale,  R.A.      We  both  had 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF  TWENTY  YEARS  251 

roan  ponies,  both  ponies  were  named  **  Judy,'*  and  we 
both  played  in  spectacles.  These  I  had  been  obliged 
to  wear  as  the  result  of  an  accident  which  has  so  far 
affected  my  sight  that  first-class  polo  was  out  of  my 
reach  if  ever  it  had  been  within  it.  But  I  did  not 
and  would  not  recognise  this  at  first,  and  persevered 
for  many  years.  Besides,  it  is  far  better  to  play,  if 
only  in  a  members'  game,  than  not  at  all,  and  I  held 
on.  But  of  those  who  played  then  there  are  many 
who  remain  in  one's  memory.  Young,  who  was  our 
best  player,  ended  a  career  full  of  promise  of  a 
soldier's  success  by  an  attack  of  enteric  fever. 
Captain  Carey  was  one  of  the  best  of  shikaris,  and 
I  recollect  the  magnificent  heads  he  brought  back 
after  a  trip  to  Central  India.  Major  Cumberland 
is  well  known  as  a  sportsman  and  explorer.  Colonel 
Twynam  commands  a  battalion  of  the  regiment. 
One  of  our  best  players  was  Kenneth  Murchison 
of  the  field  battery,  who  even  then  showed  signs 
sometimes  of  the  brain  trouble  which  brought  his 
career  to  the  saddest  possible  end  at  Mafeking.  Yet 
my  mind  often  goes  back  to  the  story  of  Murchison, 
under  sentence  of  death,  working  the  guns  on  the 
night  when  Eloff  was  taken.  We  may  regret  that 
the  prerogative  of  pardon  extended  to  a  traitor  of  the 
baser  sort,  should  not  have  been,  if  necessary,  strained 
to  include  one  who  was  probably  not  entirely  re- 
sponsible for  his  actions. 

I  reached  England  for  the  second  time  in  1893, 
at  a  most  interesting  period  in  the  history  of  polo. 
I  had  the  good  fortune  to  run  across  Moray  Brown, 


252        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

who  was  then  making  polo  popular  with  his  pen. 
I  was  just  in  time  to  sec  the  old  order  of  things 
when  Hurlingham  was  the  only  club,  members'  games 
the  rule  and  matches  the  exception.  I  was  at  first 
disappointed.  There  was  something  dilettante  about 
the  civilian  polo  of  those  days.  Individually  there 
were  fine  players,  but  the  game  as  a  whole  lacked  the 
fire  and  dash  that  I  had  been  accustomed  to  in  India. 
Neither  of  the  civilian  tournaments,  the  Champion 
Cup  or  the  County  Cup,  had  much  life  in  them. 
The  latter  was  not  the  real  and  interesting  contest 
that  it  has  become  under  the  guidance  of  the  County 
Polo  Association.  Although  individual  players,  Mr. 
James  Peat,  Captain  Renton,  Captain  Daly,  Mr.  A. 
Rawlinson,  were  splendid,  yet  there  was  no  team-play 
to  speak  of,  such  as  may  be  seen  any  day  at  our 
clubs  now. 

The  Inter-Regimental,  however,  was  a  revelation, 
and  I  do  not  think  I  had  ever  seen  anything  like  the 
play  of  such  regiments  as  the  4th,  loth,  13th  Hussars, 
the  9th,  1 2th,  17th  Lancers,  and  the  Inniskilling 
Dragoons.  The  keenness  and  enthusiasm  with  which 
the  matches  were  played  out,  and  the  interest  excited 
among  soldiers  past  and  present,  were  wonderful. 
From  the  late  Duke  of  Cambridge  to  the  latest- 
joined  "  cornet,"  no  one  was  absent  who  was  not 
on  duty.  Every  single  match  was  fought  out  to 
the  last  stroke  as  if  it  was  the  final  tie  and  the  cup 
depended  on  it.  Captain  Charles  Gough  and  the 
1 2th  Bengal  Cavalry,  and  Captain  De  Lisle  and  the 
Durham  Light  Infantry,  had  taught  us  in  India  what 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF  TWENTY  YEARS  253 

team-play  really  was,  and  we  recognised  that  in  the 
loth  and  13th  Hussars  and  the  9th  Lancers  we  had 
notable  examples  of  combination  such  as  it  was 
in  vain  to  look  for  at  that  time  among  civilians. 
Rugby  and  the  Old  Cantabs  and  many  other  teams 
were  still  in  the  future.  It  seemed,  then,  as  if  the 
whole  prospect  of  permanence  for  the  game  of  polo 
lay  in  the  Army. 

I  have  shown  elsewhere  how  the  rise  of  Ranelagh 
in  1895  changed  the  fortunes  of  the  game.  Indeed, 
there  are  two  events  I  always  look  back  upon  as  the 
most  important  in  the  progress  of  the  game  in  recent 
times  —  the  reconstitution  and  success  of  Ranelagh, 
and  the  establishment  of  the  County  Polo  Associa- 
tion. The  first  enabled  the  game  to  expand  in 
London  ;  the  second  enabled  polo  to  spread  through 
the  country.  Edinburgh  and  Liverpool  were  for  a 
long  time  the  outposts  of  polo,  and  they  struggled 
for  the  County  Cup  for  some  seasons.  The  presence 
of  a  cavalry  regiment  in  each  place  had  much  to  do 
with  the  success  of  those  clubs.  At  Liverpool 
Major  Maclaren  and  the  13th  Hussars,  and  at  Edin- 
burgh General  (then  Captain)  Rimington  and  the 
Inniskillings,  are  remembered  as  having  taught  men 
to  play  polo  who  have  now  little  to  learn  about  the 
game.  I  have  said  that  when  I  knew  it  first  in 
England,  polo  was  limited  to  a  very  few  civilians. 
Nearly  every  player  of  note  at  the  time  I  write  of, 
1893-95,  had  been  trained  in  the  Army.  Combina- 
tion or  team-play  was  almost  entirely  confined  to  the 
regimental  teams.     There  was  a  great  deal  of  writing 


2  54        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

about  combination  and  very  little  of  the  thing  itself. 
Though  there  was  no  team-play  of  much  note,  there 
were  many  brilliant  players.  Mr.  James  Peat  was, 
and  I  think  remains,  unsurpassed  in  his  own  style. 
Those  who  knew  him  at  his  best  tell  me  that  Mr. 
A.  E.  Peat  was  very  good,  but  he  was  never  in  great 
form  after  I  came  to  England.  Mr.  T.  Kennedy 
was  dead  ;  Mr.  Kenyon  Stow  was  in  America  ; 
Major  F.  Herbert,  Mr.  (now  Captain)  E.  D.  Miller, 
Mr.  John  Watson,  Mr.  A.  Rawlinson,  Captain  Kenton, 
and  Captain  Daly  had  all  been  trained  in  regimental 
polo.  Mr.  John  Watson  was  about  the  only  man 
who  could  bring  a  scratch  four  into  some  semblance 
of  a  team  as  we  understand  it  now.  No  one  could 
encourage  the  nervous,  or  exhort  the  self-willed, 
player  better  than  he.  But  even  his  power  over  his 
team  depended  chiefly  on  his  own  control  of  the 
ball,  and  his  ability  so  to  place  it  that  his  own  side 
could  obtain  possession,  and  the  vigorous  way  in 
which  he  fed  the  ball  to  his  forwards.  But  I  think 
we  may  trace  the  realisation  of  the  value  of  the  com- 
bination and  the  development  of  passing  the  ball  in 
later  years  to  the  influence  of  the  Rugby  Club. 
When  the  business  of  the  Springhill  stables  was  estab- 
lished at  Rugby,  the  presence  in  that  place  of  Captain 
E.  D.  Miller  and  his  brother,  Mr.  George  Miller, 
naturally  encouraged  the  formation  of  a  club.  Very 
early  in  the  life  of  the  Rugby  Polo  Club  their  tourna- 
ments took  a  high  place  among  the  contests  of  the 
year,  and  it  may  be  said  that  Rugby  made  a  long 
step  to  the  establishment  of  that  autumn  season  which 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF  TWENTY  YEARS  255 

now  affords  so  many  opportunities  of  seeing  or  play- 
ing good  polo. 

When  I  first  knew  English  polo  the  season  lasted 
from  May  to  July,  and  practically  Derby  and  Ascot 
weeks  were  blank.  Now,  directly  Hurlingham  and 
Ranelagh  close  their  grounds,  the  polo  grounds 
in  the  provinces  open.  The  Warwickshire  tourna- 
ment generally  comes  first,  and  there  is  a  second 
season  which  lasts  till  hunting  fairly  begins.  But 
the  great  point  was  to  show  that  polo  could  be 
played  outside  the  enclosures  of  the  great  clubs. 
Rugby  not  only  did  this,  but  proved  that  first-class 
polo  was  possible  in  the  country.  Rugby  is  fortunate 
in  possessing  two  admirable  grounds  sufficiently  close 
to  the  town  and  the  station.  The  Rugby  Club  did 
a  great  deal  for  provincial  polo  ;  and  with  good  clubs 
at  Leamington,  Market  Harboro',  and  Stratford-on- 
Avon,  the  game  flourishes  greatly  in  the  Midlands 
to-day. 

But  the  Rugby  Club  did  more  than  popularise 
county  polo  ;  it  introduced  and  perfected  the  com- 
bination, beforetime  known  only  to  regimental  teams. 
This  was  achieved  not  only  by  training  the  men,  but 
by  schooling  the  ponies.  The  particular  point  in 
which  Rugby  excelled  was  in  passing  the  ball  ;  and 
I  have  seen  this  team  in  their  best  days,  when  Mr. 
W.  J.  Drybrough  was  back  and  Captain  Renton 
No.  2,  take  the  ball  from  one  end  of  the  ground  to 
the  other  without  giving  their  adversaries  a  chance  to 
hit  it.  This  was  not  done  by  hard  hitting  or  by  any 
brilliant  run.     Indeed,  you  could  hardly  say  which 


256        POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

man  hit  the  ball,  only  it  kept  moving  forward  and 
reached  the  goal.  Yet  the  opposite  side  included 
Mr.  Buckmaster  and,  I  think,  Mr.  Freake.  Rugby 
has  not  only  been  a  school  of  team-play,  but  it  has 
produced  many  first-class  players.  For  example,  Mr. 
George  Miller,  the  best  all-round  player  of  the  day. 
He  is  almost  equally  good  wherever  you  put  him. 
To  him  we  owe  it  that  the  Newport  Cup  did  not  go 
back  to  America  in  1902.  Mr.  Walter  Jones,  one 
of  the  best  No.  i  players  we  have  seen  in  late  years  ; 
Mr.  F.  Freake,  who,  when  it  is  his  day,  is  a  most 
brilliant  forward  ;  Captain  Renton,  who,  after  doing 
his  regiment,  the  17th  Lancers,  good  service  as  No.  4, 
became  a  notable  forward  player — his  horseman- 
ship and  the  grace  and  finish  of  his  style  of  play 
make  him  always  notable  ;  the  late  Mr.  W.  J.  Dry- 
brough,  whose  strokes  gave  to  the  team  what  they 
have  always  been  deficient  in,  hard  hitting.  Then 
there  is  Lord  Shrewsbury,  who  is  at  his  best  when  in 
a  Rugby  team.  Captain  E.  D.  Miller  is  one  of  the 
best  of  captains. 

I  have  always  felt,  however,  that  the  circumstances 
of  the  Rugby  team,  and  their  command  of  the  best 
and  handiest  ponies,  make  their  style  of  play  im- 
possible of  general  attainment.  They  are  an  object- 
lesson  in  passing  and  combination,  but  it  is  unlikely 
that  other  teams  will  reach  the  same  perfection.  The 
influence  of  their  game  is  felt  in  every  team  ;  bu^ 
directly  a  first-class  player  of  individual  brilliancy 
goes  into  a  second-class  team  we  see  how  very  much 
individual  play  has  still  to  do  with  success  at  polo, 


o 


li^ 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF  TWENTY  YEARS  257 

and  it  must  be  remembered  that  Rugby  has  always 
had  one,  and  sometimes  two,  of  the  best  and  most 
brilliant  players  of  the  day  in  its  team.  I  am  not 
underrating  combination  at  polo,  but  it  is  not  every- 
thing, and  the  position  of  the  first-rate  and  brilliant 
players  is  just  what  it  always  was  and  probably  always 
will  be. 

And  certainly  when  we  pass  from  the  ranks  of 
the  players  to  those  of  the  spectators,  we  realise 
how  much  we  owe  of  the  continued  pleasure  we 
take  in  the  game  to  the  really  fine  players.  For  my 
own  part,  I  confess  that  a  great  part  of  my  enjoy- 
ment is  derived  from  watching  such  players  as  Mr. 
Buckmaster,  who  is  by  common  consent  the  finest 
player  of  the  day.  The  Americans,  although  they 
have  Mr.  L.  Waterbury,  agree  with  our  estimate  of 
our  great  player.  To  see  Mr.  Buckmaster  at  his 
best,  you  need  to  go  to  Ranelagh  and  choose  a  seat, 
if  possible,  in  the  upper  gallery  of  the  pavilion.  I 
say  Ranelagh  because  its  pavilion  is  the  best  place  to 
see  polo  from.  No  spectator  can  really  appreciate 
the  play  at  polo  unless  he  is  above  the  players  and 
can  command  the  ground.  The  match  ground  at 
Ranelagh  gives  scope  for  fine  play,  and  you  can  see 
every  part  of  it.  The  light  is  generally  good,  and 
the  fine  avenue  of  trees  along  the  course  of  the 
Beverley  brook  prevents  the  glare  of  the  setting  sun 
from  blinding  you.  Thus  all  the  strokes  can  be  seen 
and  appreciated.  We  will  suppose  the  match  to  be 
one  in  which  Mr.  Buckmaster  is  captaining  his  own 
team,  the  Old  Cantabs,  when  he  is  seen  at  his  best. 

s 


258        POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

This  team,  which  wears  not  unworthily  the  light  blue 
of  their  university,  recalls  Mr.  Buckmaster's  first 
triumph,  when  he  came  up  from  Cambridge  to  play 
for  his  university  against  Oxford  in  the  annual  match 
at  Hurlingham.  That  was  a  wonderful  team  of  young 
players — Mr.  Buckmaster,  Mr.  (now  Captain)  God- 
frey Hcseltine,  Mr.  W.  Harrild,  and  the  Duke  of 
Marlborough.  They  were  all  unusually  good  players 
for  beginners  ;  and  I  think,  if  other  interests  had  not 
intervened,  any,  or  all,  might  have  been  in  the  first 
class  at  polo.  But  we  all  made  up  our  minds  then 
that  Mr.  Buckmaster  must,  if  he  continued  to  play, 
come  at  once  into  the  front  rank.  So  it  came  to 
pass.  He  joined  the  Stock  Exchange  and  added  to 
the  already  great  strength  of  polo  in  the  "  House." 
They  could  play  the  world  at  any  time.  From  that 
day  to  this  he  has  been  a  leading  figure  on  the  polo 
ground.  He  has  been  helped  by  his  ponies,  and 
"Sunshine"  and  "Bendigo"  will  not  soon  be  forgotten 
by  those  who  saw  them. 

"  Bendigo  "  has  gone  to  Canada,  but  I  am  not  likely 
to  forget  one  summer  afternoon  when  I  saw  old 
brown  "  Bendigo  "  laying  himself  out  for  a  run.  His 
rider  had  possession  of  the  ball,  and  sitting  with  the 
lithe  and  gracefiil  seat  in  the  saddle  which  serves 
him  equally  well  over  Warwickshire  grass  and  fences, 
Mr.  Buckmaster  hit  the  ball  now  on  the  nea'r  and 
now  on  the  off  side.  So  easily  did  the  strokes  fall, 
so  lightly  did  the  ball  fly,  that  one  realised  neither 
the  pace  nor  the  stress  of  the  game  till  the  Rugby 
team  on  their  priceless  ponies  came  thundering  past 


05    ^ 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF  TWENTY  YEARS    259 

in  vain  pursuit.  Down  the  boards  the  ball  rattled, 
bounding  and  twisting,  but  never  able  to  evade  the 
inevitable  stroke.  Past  the  stand  towards  the  Putney 
goal  galloped  in  vain  pursuit  the  other  players,  then 
one  fine  near-side  stroke  took  the  ball  across  the 
front  of  the  pony  from  left  to  right,  a  touch  to 
straighten  it,  and  it  flies  up — a  long  shot  but  a  true 
one — straight  through  the  posts.  We  held  our 
breath  while  it  was  going  on,  and  the  sigh  of  relief 
that  came,  as  though  we  who  were  looking  on  had 
shared  the  strain,  was  the  most  worthy  applause  of  a 
splendid  stroke.  Only  four  other  players  that  I 
have  seen  have  given  the  same  thrill  of  excitement 
and  pure  delight  in  their  skill — Mr.  James  Peat,  Mr. 
A.  Rawhnson,  Captain  Gordon  Renton,  and  Mr.  L. 
Waterbury  ;  and  I  have  watched  closely  every  player 
of  note  of  our  time.  It  is  not  only  the  skill  but  the 
style  which  tells  on  the  spectator. 

It  will  have  been  noted  that  some  of  our  best  players 
outside  the  Army  have  come  from  the  Universities. 
It  is  not  surprising  that  Oxford  and  Cambridge  have 
supplied  a  very  considerable  number  of  first-class 
players.  Men  at  the  University  acquire  the  training 
of  hand  and  eye  that  is  so  needful  for  polo.  Racquets 
carefully  taught  by  a  good  professional  is  the  best 
apprenticeship  to  polo.  Oxford  was  for  a  long  time, 
in  spite  of  an  excellent  ground  on  Port  Meadow, 
notably  inferior  to  Cambridge  at  polo.  It  was  not, 
indeed,  until  the  three  brothers  Nickalls  came  to  the 
front,  all  hard-working,  hard-riding  players,  and  one, 
Mr.   P.  W.   Nickalls,   with  some   of  the  style  that 


26o        POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

distinguishes  the  players  I  have  written  of  above, 
that  the  dark  blues  had  their  revenge,  and  at  present 
I  think  that  of  the  two  Universities  they  have  the 
larger  number  of  players  on  the  active  list  of  the 
game. 

But  no  recollections  would  be  complete  without 
some  notes  on  international  polo.  Polo  has  spread 
very  much  on  the  continent  of  Europe  during  the 
last  few  years.  There  is  a  club  at  St.  Petersburg,  at 
Hamburg,  and  the  club  at  Paris  flourishes. 

I  have,  while  at  work  on  this  book,  been  asked 
for  permission  to  translate  some  of  my  writings  into 
Italian.     So  the  game  has  spread  to  that  country. 

The  Spaniards  have  taken  kindly  to  the  game, 
and  so  far  have  produced  the  best  players  outside  our 
English  clubs.  It  was  during  the  time  I  was  polo 
manager  at  Ranelagh  that  the  first  international 
tournament  was  played  for  a  cup  presented  by  the 
club,  and  won  by  the  Spanish  players.  But  naturally 
the  greatest  interest  of  all  has  always  attached  to  the 
matches  of  American  v.  English.  It  has  been  my 
good  fortune  to  come  across  many  American  players, 
and  in  1902  I  had  the  pleasant  duty  of  telegraphing 
the  results  of  the  last  international -^tournament  at 
Hurlingham  to  two  leading  American  papers,  of 
which  one,  the  Boston  Herald^  pays  special  attention 
to  polo,  and  reports  the  American  tournaments  in  a 
vivid  and  admirable  fashion.  I  think  every  one  was 
delighted  with  the  visit  of  the  American  players,  and 
some  people  were  a  little  astonished  at  the  brilliance 
of  their  play.     I  had  the  fortune  to  hear  beforehand 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF  TWENTY  YEARS  261 

from  a  well-known  English  player,  who  spent  some 
time  in  America  and  played  there  in  the  earlier  days 
of  polo,  what  to  expect. 

I  do  not  know  that  anything  was  more  striking 
than  the  way  the  American  players  adapted  them- 
selves to  our  rules.  Offside  and  stick-crooking, 
neither  of  which  has  any  place  in  American  polo, 
presented  few  difficulties  to  them.  There  could 
be  no  stronger  evidence  of  the  mastery  they  had 
obtained  over  the  principles  of  the  game  than  this. 
I  cannot  but  think  that  their  ponies  were  not  equal  to 
ours  in  a  really  fast  game.  The  American  ponies 
showed  a  disposition,  when  it  came  to  galloping,  to 
turn  on  their  forelegs  instead  of  turning  round  and 
springing  off  their  hocks  as  our  best  ponies  do.  From 
what  I  had  learned  of  the  system  of  training  adopted 
by  the  Americans,  and  from  some  experience  gained 
in  riding  imported  ponies,  I  should  not  have  been 
surprised  if  the  American  ponies  had  proved  at  least 
as  handy  as  and  possibly  sharper  than  ours,  but  it 
was  not  so.  In  actual  skill  at  the  game  the  best 
American  players  are  in  front  of  ail  except  the 
English  first-class  players,  and  I  might  add,  the  best 
native  players  in  India,  who  would,  I  should  imagine, 
if  they  could  play  on  anything  like  equal  terms, 
prove  stronger  even  than  our  best  English  teams. 
Mr.  L.  Waterbury,  Mr.  Cowdin,  Mr.  M.  Water- 
bury,  and  Mr.  Agassiz,  who,  with  Mr.  Foxhall 
Keene,  represented  America  in  the  memorable 
matches  of  1902,  are  quite  in  the  first  class.  A  team 
that  has  to  play   on  strange  grounds  and  to   bring 


262        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

their  ponies  with  them,  or  play  on  ponies  to  which 
they  are  not  accustomed,  has  a  very  difficult  task. 
The  time  has  not  perhaps  arrived  for  such  an 
advance,  but  I  hope  some  day  to  see  a  common  code 
of  rules  for  all  English-speaking  polo  players,  which 
could  be  used  for  international  matches,  while,  if  it 
was  necessary,  each  association  might  make  bye-laws 
to  suit  the  conditions  of  their  own  country  for  local 
matches  and  tournaments. 

Another  incident  of  an  earlier  date  that  remains 
in  my  mind  was  the  first  visit  of  the  South  American 
players  from  Argentina.  They  have  since  then 
visited  us  frequently.  They  are  fine  players,  but 
their  ponies,  with  some  exceptions,  such  for  example 
as  "  Langosta,"  "  Yankee,"  "  Slavin,"  and  "  Sandow," 
and  Mr.  Gilbey's  dun,  have  not  proved  equal  to  the 
best  English  ones.  Short  of  that  they  are  very 
good,  handy  and  enduring,  and  invaluable  in  all 
games  except  perhaps  the  first-class  tournaments. 

We  hope  and  believe  that  the  supply  of  English 
and  Irish  ponies  will  increase,  but  at  present  it  falls  a 
good  deal  below  the  demand,  and  prices  run  high. 
r  am  not  inclined  to  allow  that  pwces  are  extravagant, 
for  it  seems  to  me  that  if  you  care  to  play  polo  and 
have  the  means  to  pay  for  them,  the  best  ponies  are 
not  only  the  most  satisfactory,  but  the  cheapest  in 
the  end.  In  writing  thus  I  do  not  of  course  refer  to 
the  fancy  prices  paid  for  some  ponies,  but  to  such 
sums  as  from  £2S^  ^^  £^S^  ^^^  really  first-class 
ponies.  I  believe  that  in  the  long  run  it  would  be 
cheaper   and    more    satisfactory    to    buy    first-class 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF  TWENTY  YEARS  263 

ponies,  and  to  economise  by  keeping  fewer.  Many- 
people  have  more  ponies  than  they  can  ride,  and 
waste  the  price  of  a  good  pony  every  season  in  keep 
and  wages.  Of  course  there  are  liberal  men  who 
keep  ponies  for  their  regimental  team  or  their  polo 
club,  and  this  is  generous  and  patriotic.  But  I  doubt 
if  any  one  really  wants  more  than  four  ponies,  pro- 
vided he  can  ride  them  all  and  play  in  good  form  off 
their  backs.  Two  good  English  ponies  and  two 
handy  stout  Americans  or  Argentines  would  be 
enough  for  most  people.  If  polo  players  would 
consider  how  few  ponies  they  really  use  during  a 
season,  I  think  that  they  would  agree  with  the  above 
estimate. 

There  is  one  rule,  however,  that  every  player  who 
wishes  to  be  really  well  mounted  must  make,  and 
that  is  to  buy  a  suitable  pony  whenever  he  has  the 
chance.  Very  few  really  first-class  ponies  come  into 
the  market  every  year.  Then,  even  if  a  man  has 
money  to  spend,  having  started  himself  with  a  first- 
rate  stud,  say,  of  four  ponies,  as  already  suggested, 
he  might  well  buy  two  ponies  to  work  gradually  into 
use  in  members'  games,  and  thus  have  some  good 
ones  coming  on  that  suit  his  style  of  riding.  There 
are  plenty  of  good  ponies,  in  one  sense,  but  only  a 
limited  number  that  will  suit  any  given  player  ;  and 
on  the  whole,  I  think  a  man  is  more  likely  to  please 
himself  by  training  a  pony  gradually  to  his  hand 
than  in  any  other  way.  In  a  considerable  majority 
of  cases  people  would  be  better  mounted  than  they 
are,  if  they  would  only  buy  ponies  that  have  had  very 


264        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

little  polo  experience.  The  less  the  better,  I  should 
be  inclined  to  say.  What  I  think  we  want  is  a  pony 
that  is  perfectly  quiet  and  handy  to  ride,  well  shaped, 
good  tempered.  Such  a  pony  is  more  likely  to  suit 
us  at  polo  than  most  so-called  made  ones.  It  should 
not  cost  more  than  ;^I50  in  price,  and  may  cost  less. 
This,  of  course,  is  quite  a  different  matter  from  the 
training  of  ponies  recommended  above.  Such  ponies 
are  ready  to  go  into  a  game  at  once.  If  they  do 
not  answer  they  should  be  disposed  of  without  delay. 
The  first  loss  is  the  least.  Even  better  perhaps 
would  be  to  buy  likely  ponies  in  the  autumn  and 
hack  them  to  covert,  or  hunt  them  with  discretion 
during  the  winter. 

These  are  the  results  of  some  years  of  observa- 
tion and  experience.  Every  year,  when  judging  at 
country  shows,  I  ride,  in  the  classes  for  those  likely 
to  make  a  polo  pony,  several  ponies  that  would 
almost  certainly  make  polo  ponies  with  reasonable 
treatment.  This  advice  is  irrespective  of  the  question 
of  expense,  for  I  believe  every  man  who  is  anything 
of  a  horseman  or  a  player  would  mount  himself 
better  in  this  way  than  by  a  much  greater  expendi- 
ture. Not  only  might  it  be  less  expensive  though, 
if  we  keep  none  but*  the  best — and  why  people  who 
can  afford  to  do  so  ever  do  anything  else,  passes 
my  comprehension — the  saving  would  not  only  be 
great,  but  the  result  would  be  in  most  cases  more 
satisfactory.  These  counsels,  however,  are  not  in- 
tended so  much  for  economy's  sake,  for  I  would 
certainly  never  advise  any  one  who  could  afford  to 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF  TWENTY  YEARS  265 

pick  and  choose  to  buy  a  pony  which  is  in  any  way 
below  his  standard  as  to  make,  shape,  or  manners. 
The  stricter  he  is  in  this  way  the  fewer  failures  he 
will  have. 

There  are  many  other  things  I  might  have  told, 
but  this  chapter  is  already  fuller  than  I  had  planned 
it  to  be.  But  it  covers  a  long  period,  practically  the 
whole  story  of  modern  polo.  It  began  in  Scinde, 
travelled  to  Afghanistan,  to  the  Panjab  Frontier, 
and  so  back  to  England  again.  All  that  I  have 
written  of  I  have  seen,  and  taken  some  kind  of  share 
in.  I  have  helped  to  make  four  polo  grounds,  and 
to  manage  three  clubs,  and  am  now  among  the  older 
members  of  the  Polo  and  Riding  Pony  Society,  so 
that  I  may  claim  at  least  to  write  of  what  I  know. 
After  all,  I  shall  not  have  been  able,  I  fear,  to 
make  it  all  as  interesting  to  my  readers  as  it  has 
been  to  me. 


CHAPTER   XIV 


THOUGHTS    AND   SUGGESTIONS    ON    HANDICAPPING 


Few  people  will  doubt  that  if  a  workable  handicap 
could  be  devised  a  great  benefit  would  accrue  to 
English  polo.  That  this  feeling  is  widely  spread  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  several  attempts  have  been 
made  to  arrive  at  a  basis  for  a  handicap.  The  old 
form  of  handicap  tournaments  in  which  men  who 
wanted  to  play  gave  in  their  names  to  the  polo 
manager  of  their  club,  who  arranged  them  into 
teams  such  as  in  his  judgment  would  give  the 
best  results,  was  all  very  well  while  polo  players 
were  a  comparatively  small  body.  Most  of  the  men 
were  known  to  each  other  and  to  the  manager.     If 

266 


SUGGESTIONS  ON  HANDICAPPING     267 

he  was  a  judge  of  the  game  there  was  a  fair  chance 
of  interesting  and  well  -  contested  matches  being 
arranged.  Even  then  the  most  careful  calculations 
were  often  upset.  Sometimes  a  strong  player  either 
could  not  or  would  not  do  his  best  in  moderate 
company,  at  other  times  an  ordinary  player  mani- 
fested unexpectedly  good  form  under  the  stimulus  of 
a  tournament.  Even  if  the  first  round  provided 
some  fairly  close  matches,  everything  was  apt  to  fall 
into  confusion  by  the  time  the  second  ties  came  to 
be  played  off.  Polo  players  are  not  all  men  of 
leisure,  and  it  is  sometimes  impossible  to  collect  the 
teams  at  the  time  appointed.  Trial  and  handicap 
tournaments  are  often  uninteresting,  because,  for  one 
reason,  there  is  no  satisfactory  way  of  filling  up  un- 
avoidable vacancies  in  the  competing  teams.  If, 
however,  there  was  a  handicap,  it  would  be  easy  to 
call  in  another  player  of  equal  handicap  value.  Again, 
polo  players  are  far  more  numerous  than  they  were, 
and  the  polo  manager  cannot  always  have  a  minute 
and  accurate  estimate  of  the  play  of  the  men  entered 
for  a  club  handicap  tournament.  Some  may  be 
unknown  to  him,  others  may  be  newly  elected 
members  who  have  hitherto  only  played  in  their 
county  club.  There  is  therefore  only  a  languid 
interest  felt  in  these  so-called  handicap  tournaments, 
even  by  those  who  play  in  them. 

Another  rough  method  of  handicapping  is  to 
make  it  a  condition  that  not  more  than  one  or 
two  men,  who  have  played  in  the  finals  of  certain 
tournaments,  are  allowed   in   any  one  team  that   is 


268         POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

entered  for  the  tournament.  But  there  are  many 
chances  at  polo.  The  best  team  may  be  beaten,  and 
the  runners-up  may  be  in  their  position  rather  by 
fortune  than  play.  So  that  the  very  men  who  ought 
to  play  in  second-class  tournaments  will  be  excluded. 

Then  there  is  the  Recent  Form  List,  which  is 
published  annually  by  the  Hurlingham  Club.  The 
need  that  is  felt  for  a  handicap  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  this  Recent  Form  List  was  proposed,  and  has 
been  kept  in  its  place  by  the  influence  of  the  County 
Polo  Association,  in  spite  of  the  dislike  with  which 
it  is  regarded  by  many  people.  The  defects  of 
this  plan  of  an  official  list  of  men  who  are  to  be 
barred  from  playing  in  certain  tournaments  are 
obvious.  If  all  were  equal  in  skill  at  the  game  it 
might  be  all  very  well,  but  they  are  not,  as  an 
attempt  to  handicap  would  show,  or  a  glance  at  the 
specimen  handicap  in  this  chapter  will  illustrate. 
The  Recent  Form  List  is  rather  an  expedient  to 
avoid  the  necessity  of  facing  the  handicap  question 
than  a  real  solution  of  the  difficulty.  That  it  has 
some  obvious  disadvantages-every  one  can  see,  and  it 
is  inherently  faulty  because  it  proceeds  on  the  prin- 
ciple of  excluding  players,  whereas  the  true  handicap 
should  enable  us  to  include  as  many  as  possible. 
What  we  want  then  is  a  handicap  which  shall  enable 
first-  and  second-class  teams  to  contend  against  one 
another  with  some  prospect  of  making  a  fight  of  it ; 
secondly,  to  afford  a  convenient  method  for  the 
classification  and  variation  of  tournaments. 

I  have  long  felt  that  sooner  or  later  a  handicap 


SUGGESTIONS  ON  HANDICAPPING     269 

would  be  necessary.  In  order  the  better  to  record 
the  play  at  Hurlingham  and  Ranelagh,  and  to  avoid 
hasty  and  inaccurate  judgments,  I  have  for  long 
kept  a  private  handicap  book,  which  I  began  when 
polo  manager  at  the  Ranelagh  Club,  so  as  to  be  able 
to  arrange  the  games  on  sound  principles.  After 
testing  and  rejecting  various  methods,  the  only  work- 
able scheme  I  could  find  was  to  adopt  with  some 
modification  the  American  plan  of  expressing  the 
handicap  value  of  each  player  in  terms  of  goals  ;  this 
must  be  modified  in  the  case  of  English  polo  players, 
by  the  fact  that  the  close  team-playing  or  com- 
bination makes  a  man  of  greater  value  to  one 
particular  team  than  to  any  other.  In  addition  to 
this  the  question  of  ponies  has  to  be  considered,  and 
to  this  I  shall  refer  presently,  as  far  as  it  modifies 
the  handicap. 

The  plan  then  is  as  follows.  Each  man  might 
be  given  a  number  in  an  official  handicap  book  at 
Hurlingham.  The  expression  "  handicap  number  " 
is  perhaps  better  than  ''  goals,''  but  the  matter  is  not 
of  great  consequence.  The  highest  number  is  ten, 
the  lowest  two.  It  is  plain  that  there  will  always 
be  a  certain  number  of  players  who  are  below  the 
handicap  standard.  No  man,  however,  need  be  in- 
cluded in  the  handicap  unless  he  has  played  a  given 
number  of  times  in  a  recognised  team,  and  perhaps 
in  certain  tournaments.  Conversely,  no  player  not 
handicapped  would  be  permitted  to  play  in  the  teams 
and  tournaments  specified.  It  would  thus  become 
the  object  of  every  player  to  qualify  for  a  number 


270        POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

in  the  handicap  book,  and  this  would  be  a  stimulus 
to  improvement.  Incidentally  the  handicap  would 
give  the  governing  body  of  the  game  a  considerable 
disciplinary  power,  since  to  be  struck  out  of  the 
handicap  book  would  exclude  a  player  from  first- 
class  polo. 

While  the  handicap  would  be  arranged  and  con- 
trolled by  the  Hurlingham  Polo  Committee,  or  persons 
appointed  by  that  body,  it  would  be  open  to  the 
stewards  of  any  recognised  tournament  to  modify 
the  aggregate  handicaps  of  any  team  competing  in 
tournaments  under  their  control,  provided  they  did 
so  with  the  consent  of  the  official,  handicappers. 
Moreover,  such  stewards  would  be  allowed  to  admit 
their  own  members  to  play  in  a  handicap  tournament 
even  though  their  members  were  not  handicapped  in 
the  book,  such  members  not  having  a  higher  number 
than  two  assigned  to  them,  all  numbers  higher  than 
two  being  under  the  control  of  the  official  handi- 
cappers. In  the  case  of  county  club  handicaps  the 
managers  would  publish  the  names  of  the  teams 
entered,  with  their  handicaps,  a  week  before  the 
tournament,  so  that  teams  could  accept  or  not  as 
they  thought  fit. 

There  would,  of  course,  be  nothing  to  prevent 
county  clubs  having  their  own  handicaps,  provided 
that,  for  the  tournaments  under  Hurlingham  handi- 
cap rules,  only  men  in  the  official  handicap  book 
should  compete. 

I  propose  now  to  give  examples  of  what  I  mean 
by  reference  to  my  handicap  book.    It  will  be  under- 


SUGGESTIONS  ON  HANDICAPPING     271 

stood  that  the  handicap  numbers  suggested  have  no 
pretension  to  authority,  or  to  do  more  than  indicate 
roughly  for  the  purposes  of  this  chapter  the  handicap 
values.  These  are  tested  by  a  certain  number  of 
matches  taken  at  random  from  the  principal  contests 
of  the  last  few  years.  I  take  these  from  a  much 
larger  number  of  examples  I  have  used  to  test  my 
private  handicap.  The  numbers  opposite  the  names 
are  the  result  of  the  following  method.  A  rough 
handicap  being  made  as  basis  after  each  day's  play,  I 
compared  the  actual  scores  with  what  they  ought  to 
have  been  if  my  handicap  was  approximately  correct. 
Jf  it  worked  out  fairly  well  in  a  considerable  number 
of  instances,  I  allowed  the  handicap  to  stand.  If  not, 
I  tried  to  discover  by  careful  study  of  the  play  where 
it  was  wrong,  and  why.  In  the  course  of  these  tests 
it  became  plain  that  certain  players  were  always  much 
more  effective  as  members  of  particular  combinations 
than  of  others. 

This  difficulty  may  be  met  by  a  kind  of  sliding 
scale  for  some  players.  Taking  their  highest  possible 
number,  that  which  they  were  worth  with  some  par- 
ticular team,  one  or  more  points  are  subtracted  from 
their  number  when  they  are  playing  with  other  teams. 
In  order  to  make  my  meaning  clear,  I  have  added 
here  a  specimen  handicap  of  the  players  (with  a  few 
additions  and  omissions)  who  were  picked  out  by 
Captain  Miller  and  the  Hurlingham  Club  to  form 
their  respective  lists  of  first-class  players.  First,  I 
give  the  list  with  the  handicap  number.  Then  a 
few    matches  which  were    all    actually  played,  with 


272        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

date  and  place  given,  to  show  how  the  handicap 
works.  Many  of  my  readers  will  no  doubt  find 
fault  with  the  handicap,  and  think  that  they  could 
have  made  a  much  better  one.  No  doubt  they  could. 
But  it  is  the  object  of  this  chapter  to  turn  men's 
minds  to  the  subject  of  the  handicap.  My  end  will 
be  sufficiently  attained  if  I  can  show  its  necessity. 
If  an  approximate  handicap  can  be  produced  by  a 
person  of  moderate  intelligence,  then  greater  minds 
having  turned  their  attention  to  it,  we  could  have  a 
very  correct  and  useful  piece  of  work  indeed.  The 
object  I  aim  at  is  very  far  from  even  suggesting  that 
the  following  handicap  is  a  good  one,  but  to  show 
that  if  I  have  succeeded  in  producing  an  approximate 
handicap,  how  much  more  could  a  sub-committee  of 
any  recognised  club  produce  a  really  working  list. 
I  wish  further  to  suggest  that  while  the  players  in 
question,  by  a  rough  classification,  may  be  regarded 
as  no  doubt  in  the  first  class,  yet  that  there  are  con- 
siderable differences  in  their  value  to  a  team.  I  am 
quite  aware  that  the  expression  '*  first-class  "  player 
has  no  official  sanction.  But  it  expresses  a  fact,  and 
is  generally  used  and  understood,  therefore  it  serves 
well  enough  here. 

In  offering  some  examples,  I  may  say  that  when  I 
have  not  handicapped  a  player  in  my  list,  and  the 
name  occurs  in  one  of  the  matches,  his  handicap 
number  is  taken  from  my  book.  In  all  cases  the 
handicap  allowance  is  subtracted  from  the  total 
number  of  goals  made  by  the  side  having  the 
higher   aggregate.      When  the  number  to   be  sub- 


SUGGESTIONS  ON  HANDICAPPING     273 

tracted  is  higher  than  the  goals  actually  made,  the 
additional  goal  is  not  counted,  e.g.  A  team  has  a 
higher  aggregate  than  B  team  by  five  goals.  They 
play  a  match,  A  makes  four  goals,  B  one.  Then 
4-5  =  - 1 .  B  wins,  but  is  not  credited  with  more 
than  one  goal.  The  principle  being  that  in  a  handicap 
match  you  win  or  lose,  the  score  after  that  being  of 
no  value. 

The  test  to  which  the  handicap  is  subjected  is 
that,  if  it  is  correct,  a  reasonable  number  of  matches 
now  won  by  the  stronger  team  would  fall  to  the 
weaker,  or  the  scores  would  be  brought  almost  on  to 
an  equality.  I  have  chosen  fairly  recent  matches 
from  well-known  tournaments  and  notable  players 
for  examples,  because  every  reader  can  judge  of  the 
value  of  the  calculations  more  readily  in  this  way.  If 
fairly  tested,  I  believe,  however,  the  system  would 
work  out  well.  At  all  events  here  are  the  examples 
chosen  on  the  above-named  grounds  from  the  many 
by  which  I  have  tested  the  plan  : — 


Handicaps 

Name.                                                      No. 

Remarks. 

Mr.  W.  Buckmaster    .         .         .10 

Mr.  A.  Rawlinson 

8 

Mr.  G.  Miller     . 

8 

Mr.  F.  Freake     . 

7 

Captain  Miller     . 

7 

Captain  H.  Lloyd 

6 

Mr.  P.  Nickalls  . 

6 

Mr.  M.  Nickalls 

6 

Captain  Haig 

6 

2  74        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 


Name. 

Captain  Heseltine 
Mr.  F.  Gill 

No. 

.     6 
.     6 

Remarks. 

Captain  Jenner   . 
Mr.  C.  Nickalls . 

.     6 
•     5 

Mr.  Scott  Robson 

•     5 

Captain  Marjoribanks . 
Lord  Shrewsbury 

•     5 

■  -a 

With  Rugby. 
Other  Teams. 

Mr.  C.  D.  Miller 

■i: 

With  Rugby. 
Other  Teams. 

Mr.  W.  Jones     . 

•  w 

With  Rugby. 
Other  Teams. 

Captain  H.  Wilson 
Mr.  E.  B.  Sheppard     . 
Mr.  F.  Hargreaves 
Mr.  Thynne 
Mr.  H.  Rich       . 

'     5 

•  4 
.     4 

•  4 

•  4 

Mr.  E.  Brassey  . 
Mr.  H.  Brassey  . 

Mr.  W.  M'Creery 

•4 

•     4 

With  Old  Cantabs. 
Other  Teams. 

Mr.  L.  M'Creery 
Mr.  F.  Menzies 

•  3 

•  3 

Mr.  H.  Brassey  . 
Mr.  Ellison 

•  3 

•  3 

Captain  Harman 
Captain  Lannowe 

E 

•  3 

•  3 

Example  I 

Champ 

ion  Cup  o/igo2 

Ranelagh 

V. 

Magpies 

Mr.  M.  de  Las  Casas      . 

3      Capt.  M.  Lannowe         .     3 

Capt.  Harman 

3     Col.  D< 

t  Lisle        .         .     5 

SUGGESTIONS  ON  HANDICAPPING     275 

Mr.  F.  A.  Gill       .         .     6      Capt.  Lloyd  ...     6 
Mr.  A.  de  Las  Casas       .     4      Mr.  Thynne  .         .     4 

16  18 

Final  score — Magpies,  3  ;  Ranelagh,  i . 
Handicap,  3-2  =  1  makes  the  teams  level. 


Example  II 
Champion  Cup  of  igo^ 
Rugby  v.  Old  Cantabs 

Mr.  W.  Jones         .         .     5      Mr.  W.  M'Creery  .     4 

Mr.  G.  Miller        .         .     9      Mr.  F.  Freake        .         .     7 
Capt.  E.  Miller      .  .     7      Capt.  Heseltine       .         .     6 

Mr.  C.  Miller        .         .     5      Mr.  L.  M'Creery  .         .     3 

26  20 

Final  score — Rugby,  6  ;  Old  Cantabs,  i. 
Handicap — Rugby,  6-6  =  0.     Old  Cantabs  win. 


Example  III 

( 

Champion  Cup  of  1903 

Rugby 

V.          Old  Oxonians 

Mr.  W.  Jones        . 

.     5      Mr.  C.  Nickalls     . 

.     5 

Mr.  G.  Miller 

.     8      Mr.  M.  Nickalls    . 

.     6 

Capt.  E.  D.  Miller 

.     7      Mr.  P.  Nickalls     . 

.     6 

Mr.  C.  D.  Miller  . 

.     5      Mr.  H.  Brassey      . 

•     4 

25  21 

Here  the  handicap  works  well.       Rugby  were  much 
better  mounted.     The  scores  were — 

Rugby,  4  ;  Old  Oxonians,  i . 
Handicap,  4-4  =  0.     Old  Oxonians  win. 


V,                 ROEHAMPTON 

6     Mr.  F.  Grenfell      . 
5     Mr.  H.  Wilson      . 
4     Capt.  Miller 
4     Mr.  Ezra 

.      2 

•  5 

•  7 

•  3 

276        POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Example  IV 

Played  at  Hurlingham^  May  9,  1 903 

MuLGRAVE  House 
Capt.  Heseltine 
Capt.  Jenner 
Major  Egerton  Green    . 
Mr.  Thynne 

19  17 

Final  score — Roehampton,  6  ;  Mulgrave  House,  3. 
Roehampton  wins. 

Example  V 

Social  Clubs  Tournament^  May  9 

Turf  v.  White's 

Capt.  R.  Ward       .  .  4      Lord  Shrewsbury   .  .  4 

Mr.  H.  Brassey      .  .  3      Mr.  G.  Miller        .  .  9 

Mr.  F.  Menzies     .  .  3      Mr.  P.  Nickalls      .  .  7 

Mr.  Marjoribanks  .  .  5      Mr.  C.  Miller        .  .  3 

15  23 

Final  score — White's,  6  ;  Turf,  4. 

In  this  case  the  handicap  would  have  enabled  the  weaker 

team  to  win.    White's  was  practically  a  Rugby  team,  all  the 

players  were  thoroughly  accustomed  to  each  other's  play,  and 

they  were  probably  better  mounted  than  their  opponents. 

Example  VI 

Played  at  Roehampton 

Ranelagh  v.  Roehampton 

Capt.  Holland         .  .     2      Mr.  Horlick .         .  .2 

Major  Vaughan     .         .     6      Mr.  Jones      .         .         -4 


SUGGESTIONS  ON  HANDICAPPING  277 

Mr.  Gill        .         .         .     6     Mr.  G.  A.  Miller  .  .     8 

Capt.  Haig    .          .          .6      Mr.  W.  Buckmaster  .   10 

20  24 

Final  scores — Roehampton,  6  ;  Ranelagh,  3. 
Under  handicap  6-4  =  2  Ranelagh  wins. 


Example  VII 
Rugby  v.  Old  Oxonians 


Same   team   and    handicap 

Mr.  Astor     . 

•     3 

as  in  Example  III. 

Mr.  M.  Nickalls    . 

.     6 

Mr.  C.  Nickalls     . 

•     5 

Mr.  P.  Nickalls      . 

.     6 

25  20 

Final  score — Rugby  3  ;  Old  Oxon.,  2. 
Old  Oxon.  wins  under  handicap. 


Example  VIII 

At  Roehampton  on  yune  6,  1904. 

Rugby                        v.             Roehampton 

- 

Mr.  W.  Jones        .         .     5      H.  Schwind  . 
Earl  of  Shrewsbury         .     5      F.  Menzies    . 
Captain  E.  D.  Miller     .     7      C.  P.  Nickalls        . 
Mr.  C.  D.  Miller  .         .     5      H.  Scott  Robson    . 

.      2 

•    3 

.    5 
.     5 

22  15 

Final  score — Rugby,  7  ;  Roehampton,  3. 
Under  handicap  7-7  =  0  Roehampton  wins. 


278        POLO : 

PAST  AND  PRESENT 
Example  IX 

Open 

Cupy  Ranelagh^  'June  20 

Rugby 

V.             Ranelagh 

W.  Jones       . 

.     5      L.  C.  Jenner 

.     6 

C.  P.  Nickalls       . 

.     5      A.  Rawlinson 

.    8 

E.  D.  Miller 

.     7      F.  A.  Gill      . 

.     6 

C.  D.  Miller 

.     5      H.  Scott  Robson    . 

•     5 

22  25 

Ranelagh^  June  22 

Final  score — Rugby,  6  ;  Ranelagh,  5. 
Handicap  makes  no  difference. 

This  is  one  of  the  cases  where  the  question  of 
ponies  comes  in  in  handicapping  Rugby.  Something 
should  be  added  to  the  aggregate  for  ( i )  ponies  ; 
(2)  combination.  To  this  it  may  be  objected  that 
this  is  to  penalise  combination.  Yet  in  endeavouring 
to  produce  a  handicap  I  think  the  opportunities  of 
family  teams  for  continual  practice  would  have  to 
be  considered. 

The  advantages  of -the  above  system  are  obvious. 
It  not  only  affords  a  perfectly  fair  way  of  classify- 
ing players,  but  also,  as  I  have  pointed  out,  gives 
us  an  excellent  means  of  classifying  tournaments, 
which  naturally  fall  into  four  classes,  thus  : — 

(i)  Open  tournaments  not  affected  by  the 
handicap  at  all. 

(2)  Tournaments  played  under  handicap  divided 
into 

{a)  Teams  whose  aggregate  does  not  exceed  16. 


SUGGESTIONS  ON  HANDICAPPING     279 

(J?)    Teams    of    all    players    below    handicap 
No.  5. 

(3)  Tournaments  where  the  aggregate  number  is 
used  as  a  means  of  classificationj  but  which  are 
otherwise  played  level,  thus — 

"  This  tournament  open  to  teams  whose  aggregate 

handicap  does  not  exceed "  (whatever  may  be 

the  division  decided  on). 

(4)  Tournaments  in  which  no  team  shall  play  in 
which  there  are  more  than  two  players  whose  number 
exceeds  six  (or  seven). 

(5)  Novice  cups  and  junior  championships,  all 
whose  number  does  not  exceed  four  or  five. 

Two  questions  have  been  put  before  me — one 
whether,  when  the  entries  are  complete,  the  handi- 
cappers  should  not  survey  the  teams  in  relation  to 
each  other  ;  and,  taking  into  consideration,  for 
example,  the  amount  of  practice  together  any  one 
team  might  have  had,  add  to  the  aggregate  points 
accordingly. 

Thus — 


Example  X 

El 

NTGLAND 

V.                 Wales 

Smith    . 

. 

. 

A.  Evans 

Jones  . 

. 

. 

C.  Williams  . 

Robinson 

, 

. 

B.  Evans 

Thomson 

. 

. 

R.  Evans 

18  20 

Wales,  having  three  brothers  and  a  total  handicap 


28o        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

of  20,  might  be  raised  to  22  on  the  ground  of  the 
opportunities  for  practice  together,  or  because  they 
had  an  obvious  superiority  in  ponies. 

Or,  again,  England,  retaining  its  number  for  the 
tournament,  might  be  reduced  by  2  to  16  in  that 
particular  match. 

Indeed,  the  variety  which  a  good  handicap  is 
capable  of  imparting  to  the  game  is  very  great,  and 
it  is  just  in  sameness  and  monotony  that  the  danger 
of  polo  losing  interest  lies. 

For  example,  we  see  eight  players  at  a  match. 
They  have  no  particular  reason  for  being  arranged,  as 
they  are,  Mosquitoes  v.  Wasps.  The  Wasp  will  be 
a  Mosquito  to-morrow,  and  vice  versa.  They  do 
not  care  much  which  side  wins.  Every  one  there 
knows  the  thing  is  a  sham.  They  have  not  their  best 
ponies,  or,  if  they  have,  they  are  not  really  riding 
out — they  are  saving  up  for  some  open  cup.  When, 
for  example,  Roehampton  won  the  Open  Cup  at 
Ranelagh,  the  four  players  in  that  team  were  in 
earnest  to  do  their  best — they  had  a  natural  patriotism 
for  their  club,  and  wished  to  win,  and  they  played 
their  best,  and  we  all  looked  on  and  shouted,  but  we 
do  not  either  shout  or  look  on  when  the  Redhairs  v. 
Green-eyes  are  playing  their  little  farce. 

Another  point  which  has  been  suggested  to  me  is 
that  the  handicaps  ought  in  some  way  to  be  modified 
by  taking  into  account  the  ponies.  The  first  thing 
to  do  is  to  ascertain  what  is  the  exact  value  of  ponies 
to  the  game.  It  is  commonly  said  that  Rugby  beat 
certain  teams  during  the  past  two  years  by   their 


SUGGESTIONS  ON  HANDICAPPING     281 

ponies.  We  have  seen  that  the  victory  of  the 
English  over  the  American  teams  in  the  international 
matches  of  1902,  was  due  in  some  measure  to  the 
superiority  of  the  English  ponies.  This  may  be 
true,  but  the  value  of  ponies  is  not  perhaps  quite  so 
great  as  is  thought,  and  it  tends  to  decrease  as  the 
average  of  ponies  goes  up.  But  I  think  perhaps 
some  distinction  should  be  drav^n  between  the 
resources  of  the  dealer's  stable  and  that  of  the 
private  owner.  All  that  can  be  done  is  to  limit 
the  number  of  ponies  as  is  done  by  the  Army 
Polo  Committee,  and  to  oblige  the  ponies  to  be 
entered  as  well  as  the  players.  That  is,  that  the 
captain  of  a  team  should  be  bound  to  designate  the 
ponies  his  team  should  play.  But  I  think  that  it  is 
quite  easy  to  overrate  the  effect  of  ponies  on  the 
result  of  a  match.  Nor  does  superiority  in  ponies 
make  up,  as  we  saw  last  season,  for  the  loss  of  one 
first-class  player. 

Rugby  are  the  best  mounted  team,  but  all  the 
speed  and  training  of  their  ponies  could  not  avert 
defeat  when  Mr.  George  Miller  was  prevented  by 
accident  from  taking  his  place  in  the  team.  My 
own  feeling  is,  that  beyond  limiting  the  number 
of  ponies  to  be  used  in  a  tournament  by  each  team, 
and  obliging  the  team  to  choose  and  specify  before- 
hand by  their  registered  numbers  the  selected  ponies, 
we  cannot  go  at  present. 

But  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  devise  a  handicap 
for  ponies  thus  : — 

Supposing  ponies  were  divided  into  two  classes, 


282        POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

A  and  B, — A  to  include  all  ponies  that  had  played 
in  a  certain  number,  to  be  hereafter  determined,  of 
first-class  tournaments,  and  B  all  the  rest.  Then 
the  number  of  A  ponies  to  be  played  in  a  given 
tournament  might  be  limited.  This  is  the  plan  in 
outline  that  has  been  suggested  by  Major-General 
Douglas  Haig,  the  Inspector-General  of  Cavalry  in 
India,  as  a  way  of  cheapening  ponies  in  that  country, 
but  it  is  also  a  very  effective  handicap. 

But  I  am  more  concerned  at  present  with  the 
objections  that  may  be  made  to  the  handicap 
numbers  for  players,  which  is  the  main  subject  of 
this  chapter.  In  the  first  place,  it  will  be  urged  that 
the  American  system,  of  which  this  is  a  modification, 
has  been  tried  at  two  well-managed  Polo  Clubs,  Eden 
Park  (in  the  Dewar  Tournament)  and  Catterick 
Bridge,  without  any  conspicuous  success.  But  in  both 
cases  the  team  was  taken  as  the  unit,  which  is  not, 
I  am  convinced,  the  right  basis  for  a  handicap,  which 
should  be  based  on  a  careful  estimate  of  each  individual 
player}  If  this  estimate  is  fairly  correct  the  total 
arrived  at  would  be  also  approximately  right. 

The  County  Dublin  Club  had  some  success  with 
their  handicap  in  1904,  but  the  report  is  not  very 
clear,  and  I  think  they  too  handicapped  the  teams 
and  not  the  player.  Moreover,  casual  and  irrespon- 
sible attempts  at  handicapping  are  not  very  likely  to 
be  successful. 


*  See  chapter  on  Polo  in  Australia  for  a  handicap  based  on  teams  and  not 
players.  But  the  condition  of  polo  in  Australia  is  very  different  from  that  in 
England,  and  what  docs  well  there  might  not  succeed  here. 


SUGGESTIONS  ON  HANDICAPPING     283 

We  want,  if  we  want  anything,  an  official 
handicap  made  by  men  having  authority  from  the 
Hurlingham  Club  or  County  Polo  Association. 

But  there  is  another  objection  which  would 
naturally  occur  to  every  one  who  knows  polo.  This 
type  of  handicap,  it  might  be  said,  is  based  on 
individual  play,  and  although  this  might  be  suitable 
for  an  open  game  like  that  of  the  Americans — a 
game  which  has  no  offside  and  no  stick-crooking — 
it  is  not  so  for  English  polo.  The  American  game 
favours  the  forwards,  but  English  polo  is  based  on 
combination  and  on  defence.  Team -play  rather 
than  individual  brilliancy  is  its  note.  Therefore  a 
handicap  based  on  individual  form  is  wrong  in 
principle,  and  it  would  not  work  in  practice,  for  the 
rate  of  scoring  is  so  much  higher  in  American  polo 
than  in  English. 

As  to  the  first  objection,  I  should  reply  that  it  is 
more  specious  than  exact :  all  play  at  polo  or  any 
other  game  is  based,  not  on  any  combination,  but 
ultimately  and  in  the  last  resort,  on  the  skill  of 
individuals.  The  splendid  combination  of  Rugby 
could  not  win  a  champion  cup  in  1904  with  Mr.  G. 
A.  Miller  out  of  the  team.  Where  would  the  Old 
Cantabs  be  with  Mr.  Buckmaster  away  ^  What 
happens  when  it  is  not  Mr.  Freake  or  Mr.  Raw- 
linson's  day,  to  the  teams  they  play  in  ?  What  did 
not  Roehampton  owe  to  Captain  Herbert  Wilson's 
rapidly  improving  form  ?  These  are  but  a  few 
instances,  but  they  are  enough.  Combination  may 
be  important  at  polo,  but  this,  like  every  game,  is 


284        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

based  on  individual  skill,  and  that  must  be  the  basis 
of  any  handicap. 

Then  I  find  that  the  American  players  do  not,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  make  much  larger  scores  than  ours. 
Taking  our  provincial  tournaments  I  note  that 
the  Rugby  (1904)  series  averaged  eight  goals  per 
match,  and  the  average  difference  between  the  teams 
was  three  goals.  At  Leamington  ( 1 904)  the  averages 
were  about  the  same.  Cirencester  (same  year) 
averaged  eight  goals  with  an  average  difference  of 
Rvc  between  winners  and  losers.  Taking  seventy-two 
American  games  I  find  that  the  average  difference 
was  only  four  goals,  so  that  there  is  in  fact  no  such 
very  great  difference  in  the  scoring  in  the  two 
countries. 

A  handicap,  then,  is  shown  to  be  desirable  and 

practicable,  and  I  summarise  the  suggestions  here  : — 

(a)  That  every  player^  should  have  a  handicap 

number  assigned  to  him. 
(^)  The  highest  number  to  be  ten,  the  lowest 

two. 
(c)  That  in  every  handicap  tournament  the 
handicappers  should  be  instructed  to  con- 
sider— (i)  Whether  a  team  is  accustomed 
to  play  as  a  team  ;  (2)  How  far  the 
players  are  suited  to  each  other,  and  are 
arranged  in  their  proper  places  ;  (3) 
Whether  one  team  is  very  much  better 
mounted  than  the  others.     The  handicap 

1  That  is,  every  player  who  was  qualified  in  the  opinion  of  the  handicapper. 
To  be  handicapped  at  all  would  be  a  kind  of  graduation  at  polo. 


SUGGESTIONS  ON  HANDICAPPING     285 

of  the  teams  to  be  modified  in  accordance 
with  those  considerations,  if  the  handicappers 
think  it  desirable  to  do  so.     Such  modi- 
fications   to     apply    to    that     tournament 
only. 
{d)  The   official    handicap    to  be    published   on 
March   15th  in  each   year,   and  to  be   in 
force  for  the  following  season. 
(^)  Clubs    offering  prizes   for    handicap   tourna- 
ments based   on   the  official    handicap,   to 
publish   in   the   public   press  the  handicap 
of  the   teams   entered,   at   least   one  week 
before  the  date  of  play. 
(/)  All   clubs  or   groups  of   clubs    desiring  to 
have  a  club  handicap  to  forward  the  same 
for  the  approval  of  the  Hurlingham  Handi- 
cap Committee. 
It   has   occurred    to    me   that   the    County  Polo 
Association  and   the  Army  Committee   might  have 
separate    handicaps    for    tournaments    played    under 
their  auspices. 

I  have  written  down  these  suggestions  in  a  definite 
form,  not  as  arrogating  for  them  any  authority,  but 
because  without  definition  and  clearness  no  sug- 
gestions of  the  kind  can  be  of  any  real  value.  They 
are  only  designed  to  incite  others  to  consider  and 
examine  a  subject  which  is  of  considerable  importance 
to  the  future  of  polo. 


CHAPTER   XV 


POLO    IN    AUSTRALIA 


In  these  colonies  polo  has  made  steady  progress  and 
will  in  time  probably  be  played  all  over  the  Common- 
wealth. There  is  a  Polo  Association  of  New  South 
Wales  to  which  twenty-five  clubs  are  affiliated,  and 
these  are  nearly  all  in  full  activity,  having  well- 
supported  games,  and  often  attracting  considerable 
bodies  of  spectators.  The  rules  of  the  Association 
will  be  found  in  the  Appendix,  and  the  rules  of  play 
are  based  on  the  Jiurlingham  rules  as  they  were 
before  the  last  revision,  and  are  found  to  work  well. 
The  Association  is  throughly  representative  in  char- 
acter. It  is  governed  by  a  Council  formed  by  one 
representative  from  each  affiliated  club.  This  Council 
remains  in  office  until  the  clubs  send  other  represen- 
tatives. Every  club  is  free  to  change  its  represen- 
tative whenever  it  pleases.  When  a  new  club 
desires  affiliation,  it  has  to  be  proposed  and  seconded 
by  two  of  the  delegates  of  the  associated  clubs  and 

286 


POLO  IN  AUSTRALIA  287 

balloted  for.  One  black  ball  in  three  excludes.  Clubs 
breaking  the  rules  may  be  expelled  from  the  Associa- 
tion by  a  resolution  of  the  Council.  On  the  ist  of 
November  in  each  year  an  annual  general  meeting  is 
held,  at  which  the  officers  of  the  Association  are 
elected.  No  one  delegate  may  represent  more  than 
one  club,  but  as,  on  account  of  the  long  distances,  it 
is  not  always  possible  for  all  the  representatives  to 
attend,  any  one  of  them  may  appoint  (in  writing) 
another  representative  to  attend  and  vote  for  him. 
But  the  most  important  regulation  is  rule  15,  which 
constitutes  the  Council  of  the  Association  the  govern- 
ing body,  with  powers  of  regulating  matches  and 
arranging  tournaments,  as  well  as  of  disciplinary 
control  over  all  polo  races  and  sports.  No  man  can 
play  in  a  tournament  under  the  rules  of  the  Associa- 
tion unless  he  is  a  member  of  an  affiliated  club. 
The  Council  has  power  to  disqualify  or  suspend 
clubs  or  individual  players. 

No  doubt  this  is  an  excellent  constitution,  for 
each  club  sends  its  own  representative  and  the  polo 
players  are  governed  by  themselves.  Moreover,  the 
existence  of  an  association  enables  a  governing 
body,  with  so  strong  a  public  opinion  at  its  back,  to 
exercise  a  most  wholesome  control  over  tournaments, 
race  meetings,  and  competitions.  We  have  indeed 
nothing  exactly  equivalent  to  this  Council  in  England, 
but  some  day  or  other  something  of  the  kind  must 
come  into  existence.  Polo  tournaments  and  the 
race  meetings  held  in  connection  with  the  clubs  will 
expand  beyond  the  power  of  our  present  governing 


288         POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

body  to  control,  or  else  the  development  of  the 
game  will  be  checked  by  the  governing  body  growing 
out  of  sympathy  with  some  large  body  of  players. 
There  is  another  regulation  which  seems  to  be  of 
considerable  importance.  Any  member  of  an  affili- 
ated club  may  attend  the  meetings  of  the  Council 
and  speak,  though  only  the  elected  members  can 
vote.  This  seems  an  excellent  plan  for  ensuring 
that  grievances,  if  they  exist,  shall  reach  the  ears  of 
the  Council.  In  fact  it  is  a  characteristic  note  of 
this  Association  code  that  every  effort  is  made  to 
keep  in  touch  with  the  widely  scattered  clubs  of  the 
Association. 

The  first  rule  deals  with  the  height  of  ponies, 
which  is  in  Australia  fixed  at  14.1.  There  has, 
however,  been  some  talk  of  raising  the  height  to  14.2. 
All  the  ponies  used  are  bred  in  the  country,  but 
there  is  at  present  no  attempt,  as  \n  England,  to  breed 
a  polo  pony.  The  polo  ponies  used  have,  however, 
generally  a  share  of  pony  blood  in  them.  The  best 
ponies  have  a  great  deal  of  thoroughbred  quality, 
and  on  the  whole  tkis  cross  is  preferred  to  the  Arab, 
though  a  minority  of  players  think  that  polo  ponies 
are  all  the  better  for  a  dash  of  Arab  in  them.  The 
introduction  of  polo  into  Australia  has  caused  a 
great  rise  in  the  price  of  ponies.  Before  the  days 
of  polo,  animals  of  this  class  found  a  very  uncertain 
market,  at  prices  varying  from  ;£io  to  £i^y  and  were 
in  some  districts  unsaleable  altogether.  The  intro- 
duction of  polo  at  once  raised  the  price  of  the  polo 
pony   stamp  to   ^^20  or  £2^,     Now   if  a  pony  of 


POLO  IN  AUSTRALIA  289 

about  the  height  required  has  pace,  good  looks,  and 
handiness,  he  is  worth  anything  from  j[^^o  up  to 
;^ioo.  The  Indian  market  takes  a  good  number  of 
ponies  from  New  South  Wales,  and  there  is  a  great 
demand  for  animals  of  this  class  for  Rangoon. 

The  system  of  measurement  differs  from  ours 
in  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  have  an  official 
measurer,  in  a  country  where  the  distances  are  great 
and  the  means  of  communication  not  so  well 
developed  as  in  England.  The  following  is  the 
New  South  Wales  measuring  rule : 

61.  Prior  to  every  inter-club  match  or  polo  pony  race  or 
sports,  the  ponies  shall  be  passed  under  the  standard  by  the 
Captains  of  the  respective  sides,  or  the  Committee  of  the 
sports  meeting,  and  any  pony  not  passing  the  standard  shall 
be  barred.  The  standard  shall  be  14  hands  i  inch,  but 
half-an-inch  extra  may  be  allowed  for  shoes. 

According  to  the  wording  of  the  rule  there 
appears  to  be  no  system  of  certificates  of  measure- 
ment or  of  registration.  A  pony  may  be  measured 
at  each  tournament  he  goes  to,  but  I  should  imagine 
that  this  rule  would  not  be  enforced.  The  reason 
of  it  is,  that  no  doubt  in  up-country  games,  as  in  the 
old  days  of  station  games  in  India,  the  height  rule 
was  not  very  strictly  enforced.  The  desire  of  every 
one  was  to  make  up  a  game,  and  if  players  were 
scarce  we  did  not  look  too  hard  at  the  ponies  of  a 
willing  recruit,  even  if  they  appeared  to  be  a  little 
over  the  standard  fixed  by  the  rules.  Inter-club 
tournaments  were  a  diflFerent  matter,  and  ponies  had 

u 


290        POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

then  to  pass  a  measuring  test,  and  I  imagine  that 
a  similar  state  of  things  in  Australia  brings  about 
similar  results.  Ponies  suitable  to  the  game  are  not 
easy  to  find  in  Australia,  but  no  doubt  as  polo  de- 
velops we  shall  see  that  ponies  will  be  bred.  I  believe 
that  some  English  ponies  registered  in  the  Stud  Book 
have  already  been  exported  to  the  Antipodes,  and  we 
may  perhaps  find  that  our  Australian  brothers  will 
send  over  polo  ponies  bred  from  our  own  stock, 
which,  like  their  racehorses  on  our  turf,  will  be  able 
to  hold  their  own  and  more,  with  English  ponies 
on  the  polo  ground.  As  the  Indian  market  for 
Australian,  or,  as  they  are  called,  "  Waler  "  ponies  is 
likely  to  increase,  it  might  be  worth  while  for 
Australian  breeders  to  take  up  pony  breeding,  and  to 
import  not  only  registered  Stud  Book  polo  ponies, 
but  some  of  the  foundation  stock  from  which  so 
many  of  our  best  ponies  are  derived.  Something 
like  30  per  cent  of  our  polo  ponies  have  Welsh  blood, 
and  nearly  all  the  rest  have  Dartmoor  and  Exmoor, 
with  the  exception  of  the  few  thoroughbred  or  half- 
bred  dwarfs  which  have  reverted  to  the  size  of  some 
unknown  pony  ancestor.  Irish  ponies  too,  as  has 
been  shown  in  another  part  of  the  book,  have  much 
real  pony  blood  in  them. 

The  usual  size  of  the  ground  in  Australia  is  300 
yards  by  200,  and  boards  are  apparently  not  in  use, 
at  all  events  they  are  not  mentioned  in  the  code  of 
rules  I  have.  The  balls  are  somewhat  smaller  than 
ours,  being  3  inches,  as  compared  with  3  J  in  England. 
Sticks  are  under  the  control  of  the  umpire,  and  he 


POLO  IN  AUSTRALIA  291 

has  the  power  of  refusing  to  allow  any  stick  to  be 
used  which  he  considers  to  be  dangerous.  The 
periods  are  those  formerly  in  use  at  Hurlingham, 
three  twenty-minutes  with  ten-minute  intervals,  and 
ponies  are  allowed  to  be  changed  every  ten  minutes. 
When  we  come  to  the  question  of  riding  off,  we 
find  that  the  bumping  not  uncommon  in  this  country 
is  forbidden  by  the  introduction  of  a  definition  of 
riding  off  similar  to  that  in  the  Indian  and  New 
Zealand  rules.  "  A  player  shall  be  considered  to  ride 
off  fairly  when,  having  placed  himself  abreast  of  an 
adversary  after  following  a  line  of  direction  as  nearly 
as  possible  parallel  to  that  in  which  his  adversary  is 
moving,  he  gradually  forces  him  from,  or  prevents 
his  continuing  in  the  direction  in  which  he  is  riding." 
The  penalties,  too,  are  those  which  we  formerly 
had  in  this  country,  and  the  offside  rule  and  that 
about  crooking  sticks  are  the  same  as  in  our  last 
unrevised  code. 

It  is  a  disadvantage  to  polo  in  Australia  that  [the 
distances  are  so  great  that  it  is  no  easy  matter  to 
hold  tournaments.  Naturally  the  isolation  of  clubs 
interferes  with  the  development  of  the  game.  The 
large  number  of  polo  tournaments  played  in  England 
may  be  considered  to  be  one  of  the  reasons  for  the 
very  great  improvement  in  the  average  skill  of 
players  that  has  taken  place  of  late  years,  and  I 
think  that  nowhere,  not  even  in  India,  are  such 
good  ordinary  games  to  be  seen  as  on  an  English 
ground  on  an  off-day.  In  Australia  tournaments 
are  very  much  appreciated  where  they  can  be  held, 


292        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

and  are  well  attended;  although  I  gather  that  polo 
as  a  spectacle  has  not  yet  attained  the  popularity 
which  it  enjoys  in  such  places  as  Dublin  or  Hull, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  assemblies  for  the  leading 
tournaments  at  London  clubs.  Polo  is  played  all 
the  year  round  at  Sydney,  but  at  Melbourne  in  the 
summer  only,  for  there  they  have  hunting  in  the  winter. 
In  the  country  districts  of  New  South  Wales,  however, 
the  summer  months  are  too  hot  for  polo,  and  the 
season  for  the  game  is  in  the  winter. 

That  their  game  is  based  on  thoroughly  sound 
principles  may  be  seen  from  the  hints  to  players 
which  I  extract  from  the  New  South  Wales  book 
of  rules.  They  are  equally  useful  to  all  who  play 
polo,  and  may  be  studied  with  profit  by  English 
and  Indian  players.  They  were  written  for  the 
Association  by  Captain  Douglas  Haig,  now  Major- 
General  and  Inspector  of  Cavalry  in  India. 

(a)  Back  defends  his  goal.  He  should,  as  a  rule,  always 
backhand  the  ball,  very  seldom  meet  it,  or  hit  a  forward 
stroke.  If  the  ball  is  within  about  80  yards  or  less  of  his  own 
goal  he  should  hit  it  towards  the  side  line  (not  across  the 
front  of  his  own  goal,  as  a  rule).  On  the  other  hand,  if  the 
ball  is  nearer  the  adversary's  goal,  he  should  hit  the  ball  direct 
towards  the  enemy's  goal.  If  this  principle  be  followed,  the 
"  forwards  "  will  then  know  towards  which  hand  they  ought 
to  turn  about,  when  they  see  a  back-hander  about  to  be  hit. 

(b)  No.  3  joins  with  the  Back  in  defending  his  goal,  but 
must  be  ready  to  act  on  the  offensive,  both  by  meeting  the 
ball  when  an  opportunity  arises,  and  then  driving  it  down 
towards  the  enemy's  goal,  and  also  by  backing  up  No.  2  and 


POLO  IN  AUSTRALIA  293 

taking  on  the  ball,  should  the  latter  be  ridden  over  the  ball, 
or  lose  possession  of  it.  In  the  event  of  No.  3  going  forward 
No.  2  will  take  his  place  and  back  him  up.  No.  3  must 
never  allow  more  than  one  adversary  to  hustle  the  Back. 

{c)  No.  2  joins  with  No.  i  in  attacking  the  enemy's 
goal.  In  order  to  be  successful  in  this,  they  will  at  times 
be  forced  to  change  places  ;  for  instance,  if,  in  the  course  of 
the  game.  No.  2  gets  very  far  forward,  he  ought  to  remain 
where  he  is  and  play  "  i  "  until  an  opportunity  of  regaining 
his  proper  place  occurs.  No.  2  must  also,  as  already  stated, 
be  prepared  to  replace  No.  3  should  he  go  forward. 

[d)  No.  I's  chief  duty  is  to  ride  so  as  to  prevent  the 
enemy's  Back  from  backhanding  the  ball,  and  he  must  try 
and  carry  him  away  from  the  direct  line  between  the  player 
of  his  own  side  who  is  in  possession  of  the  ball  and  the 
enemy's  goal. 

{e)  The  moment  a  player  sees  that  a  backhander  is  about 
to  be  hit  (and  it  seems  improbable  that  one  of  the  adversaries 
can  intervene  and  meet  the  ball)  he  must  turn  round  and 
move  in  the  required  direction  so  as  to  carry  on  the  ball.  I 
mean  a  player  must  turn  as  the  ball  is  being  struck,  or  indeed, 
before  it  is  struck,  instead  of  waiting  for  the  ball  to  be  struck, 
and  then  turn. 

In  Victoria  there  is  a  system  of  handicapping 
which  differs  from  that  in  use  in  America  and  from 
our  usual  method,  though  something  like  it  was  tried 
at  Catterick  Bridge  in  1904. 

The  Australian  plan  is  to  take  the  best  team  and 
put  it  at  scratch.  The  other  teams  then  receive  each 
a  number  of  goals  proportioned  to  their  supposed 
strength.     It  is  obvious  that  very  much  depends  on 


294        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

the  handicapper's  judgment,  but  I  am  told  that  the 
plan  works  well,  and  encourages  the  weaker  teams 
to  enter  for  tournaments,  giving  them  a  chance  of 
winning. 

There  is  an  invention  used  in  Australia  which  we 
might  find  useful  here.  This  is  an  instrument  used 
by  the  umpires  for  picking  up  the  balls.  It  saves 
them  from  having  to  dismount  in  order  to  do  this, 
and  seems  a  very  useful  and  practical  idea. 


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CHAPTER   XVI 


POLO    IN    AMERICA 


The  game  of  polo  is  regulated  in  America  by  an 
Association  founded  in  1890,  with  headquarters  in 
New  York.  The  President  of  the  Association  is 
Mr.  H.  L.  Herbert  of  New  York,  and  Mr.  W.  A. 
Hazard  is  Honorary  Secretary  and  Treasurer. 
There  is  no  American  polo  player  better  known  in 
London  than  Mr.  Hazard.  He  takes  a  great 
interest  in  international  polo,  and  is  one  of  those 
many  people  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  who  are 
anxious  to  bring  American  and  English  rules  into 
accordance  as  far  as  possible.  Mr.  Hazard  gave 
the  cups  which  were  played  for  in  1902  at  Hur- 
lingham  and  Ranelagh,  in  order  to  test  the  merits 

295 


296        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

of  the  game  as  played  without  offside,  and  he  is  also 
the  giver  of  a  cup  which  is  played  for  at  Roehampton. 
To  the  American  Polo  Association  about  thirty 
clubs  are  affiliated,  each  club  paying  an  annual  sub- 
scription of  $75.     The  constitution  is  as  follows  : — 

Constitution. 

I.  The  Polo  Association  shall  consist  of  an  association  of 
^  polo  clubs,  each  to  be  represented  by  one  delegate,  who 
shall  out  of  their  number  elect  at  the  annual  meeting  a 
committee  of  nine,  including  the  chairman,  for  the  term 
of  one  year,  from  the  following  localities  :  four  from  New 
York  and  vicinity,  two  from  Philadelphia  and  vicinity,  two 
from  New  England,  and  one  from  the  West. 

Thus  the  governing  body  is  a  committee  of  nine — 
it  was  formerly  five.  This  committee  has  large 
powers.  It  can  alter  old  rules  or  make  new  ones 
without  reference  to  the  general  meeting.  The 
committee's  term  of  office  is  only  for  one  year, 
but  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  the  re-election  of 
members. 

The  affiliated  clubs  are  free  to  send  in  any  names 
they  please  as  delegates,  but  the  committee  exercise 
a  check,  as  every  delegate  nominated  by  an  affiliated 
club  must  be  balloted  for  by  the  central  committee. 
Thus,  though  the  committee  has  no  power  to  co-opt 
members,  it  has  ample  powers  of  rejection.  They 
have  also  the  power  to  expel  undesirable  delegates. 
The  delegates  meet  once  a  year,  and  the  committee 
every  month,  or  oftener  if  required.  This  is  an 
excellent   constitution.      A    strong    executive    com- 


POLO  IN  AMERICA  297 

mittee,  representative  of  the  whole  body  of  polo 
players,  and  elected  annually,  meets  often  enough 
to  deal  without  delay  with  any  matter  that  requires 
it.  The  constitution,  it  will  be  seen,  is  very  similar 
to  that  of  the  Indian  Polo  Association,  except  that 
in  India  changes  have  to  be  referred  to  the  annual 
general  meeting. 

The  American  Polo  Association  has  been  suc- 
cessful in  guiding  the  game  through  a  period  of 
rapid  growth,  so  that  we  see  that  there  has  been 
great  progress  in  their  skill  in  play  in  the  sixteen 
years  that  have  elapsed  since  the  first  international 
match.  Then  America  was  defeated  by  an  English 
team  with  comparative  ease,  although  the  representa- 
tives of  the  former  were  playing  on  their  own 
ground  and  under  their  own  rules.  In  1902  it 
was  with  much  difficulty  that  England  defeated  the 
American  players,  although  the  latter  were  playing 
on  strange  grounds  and  with  offside  and  stick-crook- 
ing rules  to  which  only  Mr.  Foxhall  Keene  was 
accustomed.  Even  with  these  disadvantages  the 
English  team  had  to  be  altered  several  times,  and 
after  several  defeats,  before  victory  was  assured.  I 
watched  all  the  games,  and  on  some  points  the 
American  players  were  better  than  the  English. 
But  they  had  not  quite  the  combination  of  a  first- 
class  English  team,  and  their  ponies  were  not  so 
good.  Even  allowing  for  the  voyage  and  the  change 
of  water  and  forage,  I  think  that  the  English  ponies 
are  better  than  the  American.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  international  matches  showed  us  that  there  was 


298        POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

very  little  to  choose  between  first-class  polo  in  the 
two  countries. 

The  best  test,  however,  of  the  work  of  a  polo 
committee  is  its  code  of  rules,  and  these  I  put  before 
my  readers  with  such  comments  and  explanations  as 
may  seem  desirable. 

1.  The  ground  should  be  about  900  feet  long  by  450 
feet  wide,  with  a  ten-inch  guard  from  end  to  end  on  the 
sides  only. 

The  length  of  the  American  ground  is  that  which 
has  prevailed  always  and  everywhere,  with  but  few 
exceptions,  to  the  present  time.  Three  hundred 
yards  has  for  two  thousand  years  been  considered 
the  best  length  for  a  polo  ground.  The  width  has 
varied,  but  in  America  is  fixed  at  150  yards,  the 
width  which  many  practical  polo  men  prefer.  These 
dimensions  are,  however,  not  compulsory,  and  as  a 
matter  of  fact  polo  grounds  in  America  vary  a  good 
deal. 

Goal-Posts. 

2.  The  goal-postg.  shall  be  24  feet  apart,  at  least  10  feet 
high,  and  light  enough  to  break  if  collided  with. 

Balls  and  Mallets 

3.  The  ball  shall  be  of  wood,  with  no  other  covering 
than  white  paint,  3J  inches  in  diameter,  and  not  exceeding 
5  oz.  in  weight. 

Mallets  shall  be  such  as  approved  by  the  Committee. 

There  is  no  diff^erence  between  these  rules  and 
those  of  the  English  and  Indian  codes,  except  in  the 


POLO  IN  AMERICA  299 

last  clause.  We  leave  the  choice  of  sticks  entirely 
to  the  individual  player.  This  clause  suggests  that 
it  might  not  be  a  bad  plan  if  all  polo  associations 
agreed  on  a  standard  length  of  stick,  with  the  head 
affixed  at  a  certain  angle.  But  I  imagine  that  no 
such  standard  exists  in  America,  and  that  the  inten- 
tion is  to  check  the  possible  introduction  of  any 
polo  stick  varying  greatly  from  the  ordinary  mallet 
in  length,  pliability,  or  weight. 


4.  The  height  of  ponies  shall  not  exceed  14.2.  Ponies 
aged  five  (5)  years  and  upwards  may  be  measured  and 
registered  for  life ;  ponies  under  five  (5)  years  may  be 
registered  for  the  current  season  only.  Any  member  of 
the  Committee  may  measure  ponies  not  his  own,  and 
issue  certificates  of  registry.  He  shall  determine  the  age 
of  the  pony.  The  Committee  may  by  vote  appoint  one 
or  more  official  measurers,  who  shall  have  all  the  powers 
hereby  given  the  Committee  in  respect  to  the  measurement 
of  ponies  and  the  issue  of  certificates. 

This  rule  is  not  carried  out.  Practically  any 
pony  can  play  in  America  ;  they  are  never  measured. 
Few  ponies  over  size  are  played,  and  objections 
have  not  been  raised,  so  that  though  the  rule 
exists  it  is  not  in  active  operation.  The  American 
pony  owners  are  exactly  in  the  position  of  players  at 
Hurlingham  in  1894  :  there  was  a  rule  but  it  was 
not  enforced.  The  Polo  and  Riding  Pony  Society 
has  had  considerable  influence  on  the  English  rule. 
That  body  represented  pony  breeders,  and  until  there 


300        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

was  a  registered  standard  height  many  people  were  shy 
of  taking  up  polo  pony  breeding.  We  may  say  that 
the  chief  benefit  of  the  14.2  rule  in  English  polo  has 
been  the  stimulus  it  has  given  to  pony-breeding,  and 
the  consequent  improvement  in  the  average  quality 
of  ponies.  Whether  a  similar  rule  and  registration 
would  be  equally  advantageous  in  America  in  this 
respect  I  could  not  say.  In  England  the  actual 
number  of  rejections  under  the  rule  was  very  small, 
numbering  only  30  ponies  out  of  3000  measured  by 
the  late  Sir  Henry  Simpson,  nor  has  the  present 
measurer,  Mr.  Sheather,  greatly  exceeded,  if  he  has 
equalled,  this  percentage  of  rejections. 

Periods. 

5.  A.  In  match  games  between  pairs  there  shall  be  two 
periods  of  fifteen  (15)  minutes  each  actual  play. 

B.  In  match  games  between  teams  of  three  (3)  there 
shall  be  three  (3)  periods  of  fifteen  (15)  minutes  each  actual 
play. 

Under  A  and  B,  two  (2)  minutes  shall  be  allowed  after 
each  goal,  and  intervals  of  five  (5)  minutes  between  periods, 
unless  otherwise  agreed. 

C.  In  match  games  between  teams  of  four  (4),  there 
shall  be  four  (4)  periods  of  fifteen  (15)  minutes  each  actual 
play.  Two  (2)  minutes  shall  be  allowed  after  each  goal,  and 
intervals  of  seven  (7)  minutes  between  periods,  unless  other- 
wise agreed. 

Under  A,  B,  and  C,  time  between  goals  and  delays  shall 
not  be  counted  as  actual  play. 

Games  between  a  number  of  players  less  than  four 
are  seldom  or  never  played. 


POLO  IN  AMERICA  301 

The  periods  of  play  are,  it  will  be  seen,  much 
longer  than  in  England,  and  three  times  as  long  as 
in  India. 

I  am  strongly  in  favour  of  short  periods  ;  it 
makes  for  brilliancy  of  play  in  a  fast  game,  and 
saves  the  ponies  much,  so  that  I  think  a  reduction 
of  the  time  of  play  to  fivQ  minutes  would  be  followed 
in  England,  and  perhaps  in  America,  by  an  increase 
in  the  popularity  of  the  game.  It  is  the  opinion  of 
practical  polo  men  in  America  that  short  periods  are 
favourable  to  the  poorer  men. 

Another  point  of  difference  is  the  absence  of  any 
fixed  period  for  changing  ponies.  The  referee  may 
stop  the  game  for  this  purpose  when  there  has  been 
ten  minutes  of  continuous  play,  or  he  may  do  so 
if  both  captains  consent.  The  immense  develop- 
ment of  English  polo  since  the  adoption  of  the  ten- 
minutes  rule  by  the  Hurlingham  Polo  Committee  is, 
if  not  wholly,  partly  due  to  the  adoption  of  a  definite 
rule  on  this  point. 

However,  as  things  stand,  fifteen  minutes  is  the 
period  :  there  are  pauses  of  twenty -one  minutes. 
Allowing  for  deductions  A,  B,  and  C,  it  would  seem 
as  though  a  polo  match  in  America  might  easily  occupy 
two  hours,  though,  as  I  am  told  that  two  games  are 
seldom  played  in  one  day,  this  matters  the  less. 

This  rule,  however,  should  be  considered  in  con- 
nection with  the  American  style  of  play.  The 
absence  of  offside  and  of  stick-crooking  must  be  taken 
into  consideration.  This  occasions  a  more  open 
style  of  play,  and  a  rather  higher  scale  of  scoring. 


302        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

than  in  England,  so  that  goals  come  more  frequently 
than  with  us.  There  are  thus  many  opportunities  of 
changing  ponies,  and  continuous  play  does  not  often 
last  for  more  than  five  or  six  minutes. 

Eligibility, 

6.  A  member  of  a  club  which  is  a  member  of  the  Polo 
Association  shall  not  play  any  match  games  with  or  against 
any  club  which  is  not  a  member,  except  on  written  consent 
of  the  Committee,  and  the  approval  of  the  captain  of  the 
teams  entered. 

7.  A  player  shall  be  handicapped  with  but  one  club  at  a 
time. 

8.  A  player  shall  not  play  for  the  same  prize  in  more 
than  one  team  or  pair.  Any  player  in  his  first  tournament 
events  shall  be  handicapped  at  not  less  than  two  goals,  and 
shall  so  continue  until  changed  by  the  Committee. 

These  rules  deal  with  two  important  points.  The 
first  belongs  to  what  we  may  call  the  regulation  of 
the  game.  The  second  refers  to  the  American 
system  of  handicapping,  which  they  have  found  very 
necessary  and  very  jjseful  in  America.  Rule  6  enables 
the  American  Association  to  protect  its  own  rules  and 
its  own  position  by  forbidding  games  under  rules  other 
than  its  own,  within  the  limits  of  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Association. 

The  rules  refer  to  the  American  handicap  system, 
which  has  been  tested  by  nine  years  of  practice, 
and  has  unquestionably  been  a  great  factor  in  the 
success  of  American  polo  by  bringing  teams  together 
which  would  not  otherwise  be  able  to  play  matches  in 


POLO  IN  AMERICA  303 

company,  as  handicaps,  by  bringing  first-  and  second- 
class  teams  into  contact,  unquestionably  raise  the 
standard  of  play  in  the  latter.  Every  player  has  his 
handicap  in  America  as  soon  as  he  is  qualified  to 
play  in  a  tournament  at  all.  He  is  then  handi- 
capped at  two,  and  so  continues  until  the  Committee 
see  fit  to  give  him  a  higher  number.  The  handicap 
is  thus  limited  to  men  who  play  in  tournaments,  and 
it  is  obvious  that  any  player  who  was  not  up  to  this 
standard  would  not  be  handicapped.  The  handicap 
in  America  is  not  merely  a  means  of  bringing  first- 
and  second-class  players  together,  but  is  also  a 
serviceable  system  of  classification  even  for  those  who 
are  to  play  in  tournaments  on  level  terms.  But  this 
advantage  I  have  explained  elsewhere,  and  it  need 
not  be  repeated  here.  What  I  wish  to  note  is  that 
the  system  has  proved  its  excellence  by  working 
satisfactorily  for  a  long  time,  and  is  said  this  year 
(1904)  to  be  very  necessary  in  America.  As  an 
instance  of  the  efficiency  of  the  handicap  in  America, 
I  note  that  of  sixty-seven  games  played  under  handi- 
cap and  selected  at  random,  the  teams  receiving 
weight,  if  I  may  use  the  expression,  won  twenty-four 
matches,  while  those  giving  weight  gained  forty- 
three  ;  but  in  a  large  number  of  instances  the  handi- 
cap brought  the  teams  together,  and  occasional  close 
contests  were  the  result. 

Entries. 

9.  Entries  for  tournament  events  shall  be  made  in  writing, 
naming  the  probable  players  and  substitutes,  and  be  accom- 
panied by  an  entrance  fee  often  (10)  dollars  for  each  player, 


304        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

which  is  to  be  returned  if  the  team  plays,  otherwise  it  is 
forfeited  to  the  Association.  Entries  absolutely  close  on  the 
day  announced.     No  conditional  entries  shall  be  received. 

The  entrance  fee  for  championship  events  shall  be  one 
hundred  (lOO)  dollars  for  each  team. 

This  rule  of  course  applies  to  Association  or,  as 
we  might  call  them,  open  tournaments.  Of  these 
we  have  only  two — the  Inter -Regimental  and  the 
County  Cup.  Our  other  tournaments  are  for  cups 
given  by  private  clubs,  and  are  subject  to  such  con- 
ditions as  they  may  make. 

Drawings. 

I  o.  The  drawings  for  all  tournaments  shall  be  made  under 
the  Bagnell- Wilde  system.  (This  consists  of  playing  a 
preliminary  round  to  reduce  the  number  of  contesting  teams 
to  two,  four,  eight,  or  sixteen,  thus  eliminating  the  bye  at 
once,  and  putting  all  contestants  on  the  same  footing.) 

Rule  lo.  This  is  the  same  as  the  Indian  rule 
providing  that  all  byes  shall  be  played  in  the  first 

round. 

Uniforms. 

11.  Captains  shall  not  allow  members  of  their  team  to 
appear  in  the  game  otherwise  than  in  club  uniform. 

Colours, 

12.  The  Polo  Association  colours  are  white  and  dark 
blue. 

Rules  1 1  and  1 2  are  very  necessary  to  guard 
against  carelessness  about  colours.  It  is  unbecoming 
and  selfish  for  a  team  to  appear  on  a  club  ground 


POLO  IN  AMERICA  305 

without  its  proper  colours,  and  spoils  the  pleasure  of 
the  onlookers,  and  sometimes  confuses  the  players. 

Championships. 

13.  A.  There  shall  be  a  Senior  and  a  Junior  Champion- 
ship tournament,  the  latter  immediately  preceding  the 
former.  The  Senior  Championship  shall  be  open  to  teams 
without  limit  of  handicap.  The  Junior  Championship  shall 
be  open  to  teams  whose  aggregate  handicap  does  not  exceed 
twenty  (20)  goals,  but  this  limit  is  simply  to  define  the 
class,  and  all  games  in  both  classes  shall  be  played  without 
handicap. 

No  player  with  a  higher  handicap  than  five  (5)  goals  on 
May  15  shall  compete  in  the  Junior  Championship. 

The  handicap  governing  eligibility  to  Junior  Champion- 
ship teams  shall  be  that  in  force  on  May  15  of  the  year 
in  which  the  Championship  events  take  place. 

B.  The  winner  of  the  Junior  Championship  event  shall 
have  the  privilege  of  making  a  post-entry  for  the  Senior 
Championship  events. 

C.  Except  as  provided  in  section  B  paragraph,  a  player 
shall  not  be  allowed  to  play  in  both  classes. 

D.  In  both  classes  the  Championship  may  be  won  by 
default,  but  in  such  case  no  individual  trophies  shall  be 
added. 

E.  Any  club  which  may  enter  a  team  or  teams  for  the 
Championship  or  Junior  Championship  of  the  Polo  Associa- 
tion clubs  shall  nominate  only  players  directly  identified 
with  such  club,  and  the  Committee  shall  be  notified  of  the 
names  of  the  players  composing  each  team  not  less  than  ten 
days  preceding  the  closing  of  entries.  The  Committee  shall 
then  decide  with  which  club  any  player  is  eligible  to  com- 
pete for   the  Championship  events.     Entries  for  the  Club 

X 


3o6        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Championship  to  close  twenty  days  preceding  the  first  event ; 
entries  for  the  Junior  Championship  to  close  five  days  later 
than  for  the  Club  Championship. 

The  object  of  this  rule,  as  explained  to  me,  is  to 
prevent  *'  all  star  "  teams,  and  also  because  American 
polo  is  much  more  scattered,  so  that  it  is  desirable 
that  men  shall  play  for  their  own  clubs,  and  to 
encourage  clubs  to  send  teams.  In  England  the 
*'all  star"  team  is  on  the  decrease.  There,  too, 
polo  is  becoming  less  concentrated,  and  such  a  team 
as  the  Freebooters  once  were,  or  even  Rugby  was, 
will  not  be  possible  again.  Our  Old  Cantabs, 
Magpies,  Oxonians,  and  so  on,  are  generally  teams 
which  have  at  least  one  and  sometimes  more  players 
not  on  the  Recent  Form  List.  Of  course  in  both 
countries  it  is  greatly  for  the  interest  of  the  game 
to  have  as  many  club  teams  engaged  in  tournaments 
as  conditions  will  permit. 

This  rule  concludes  the  section  classified  as 
General  Rules.  We  now  come  to  what  the  Ameri- 
cans call  Field  Rules.  The  first  section  regulates  the 
matches,  and  decides  who  are  eligible  to  compete  ; 
the  second  controls  the  players  in  the  field. 

Field  Captain. 
I.  There  shall  be  a  field  captain  for  each  team,  who  shall 
have  the  direction  of  positions  and  plays  of  his  men.  He 
shall  have  the  sole  right  to  discuss  with  the  referee  questions 
arising  during  the  game,  and  to  enter  protests  with  the 
referee,  provided  that  a  player  fouled  may  claim  the  foul. 
Other  players  shall  testify  only  when  requested  by  the 
referee. 


POLO  IN  AMERICA  307 

Referee, 

2.  The  two  captains  shall  agree  upon  a  referee,  whose 
decision  shall  be  final  in  regard  to  all  questions  of  actual 
play,  but  as  regards  eligibility  of  players,  handicaps,  and 
interpretation  of  the  General  Rules,  an  appeal  may  be  made 
by  either  captain  to  the  committee,  whose  decision  shall  be 
final. 

Rules  I  and  2.  In  America,  where,  owing  to  the 
absence  of  offenders  and  the  simplicity  of  the  rules 
penalising  fouls,  the  duties  of  the  umpire  are  in 
commission,  as  it  were,  between  the  captains  of  the 
teams  and  a  referee,  who  is  appointed  by  the 
captains,  any  disputed  point,  such  as  the  claiming 
of  a  foul  or  the  infliction  of  a  penalty,  may  be  dis- 
cussed between  the  two  captains  before  the  referee, 
who  decides,  but  from  whose  decision  there  lies  an 
appeal  to  the  committee. 

Disqualification  of  Ponies, 

3.  Any  pony  may  be  protested  on  the  field  under  General 
Rule  4  (if  possible,  before  play  begins),  by  the  field  captain 
of  the  side  against  which  the  pony  is  offered  to  be  played. 
Unless  a  certificate  of  registry  under  said  Rule  4  is  then 
produced,  the  referee  shall  forthwith  measure  the  pony  and 
decide  the  protest.  If  sustained,  the  pony  shall  be  ruled  off 
the  field  for  the  match. 

The  referee  shall  exclude  from  the  game  any  dangerous 
or  vicious  pony. 

Rule  3.  Refers  to  the  disqualification  of  vicious 
ponies  or  those  that  may  be  over  height,  and  in  its 
results  probably  is  much  the  same  as  the  English 
rule. 


3o8        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Timer  and  Scorer. 

4.  The  two  captains  shall  agree  upon  a  timer  and  a 
scorer,  who  shall  perform  their  duties  under  the  direction 
of  the  referee. 

Rule  4.  Directs  appointment  of  a  timer  and  scorer, 
who  must  by  the  rule  be  different  persons. 

Goal  Judges, 

5.  The  home  captain  shall  appoint  two  goal  judges, 
acceptable  to  the  visiting  captain,  each  of  whom  shall  give 
testimony  to  the  referee,  at  the  latter's  request,  in  respect 
to  goals  and  other  plays  near  his  goal,  but  the  referee  shall 
make  all  decisions. 

Rule  5.  Is  the  Indian  goal  referee  under  a  different 
name,  except  that  they  do  not  decide  disputed  points, 
but  merely  furnish  the  referee  with  evidence  on  which 
to  base  his  decisions. 

Substitute,   ' 

6.  Each  team  should  have  a  substitute  in  readiness  to 
play  in  case  of  accident  or  disqualification. 

Rule  6.  Provides  for  a  fifth  man  to  be  held  in 
reserve  by  every  team.  This  rule  might  well  be 
adopted  in  England. 

Clear  Field. 

7.  Only  players  and  referee  shall  be  allowed  upon  the 
ground  during  the  progress  of  the  game. 

Choice  of  Ends. 

8.  The  choice  of  ends  shall  be  determined  by  the  toss  of 
a  coin  between  the  field  captains.  » 


POLO  IN  AMERICA  309 

Change  of  Ends. 

9.  Ends  shall  be  changed  after  every  goal. 

Throw-in. 

10.  The  game  begins  when  the  ball  is  thrown  in  by  the 
referee  between  the  contestants,  who  shall  each  be  on  his 
own  side  of  the  middle  line. 

11.  After  an  interval,  the  referee  shall  throw  in  the  ball 
when  the  proper  signal  is  given  by  the  timer,  whether  all 
the  players  are  lined  up  or  not. 

Goal. 

12.  A  goal  is  made  when  the  ball  goes  over  and  clear  of 
the  line  between  the  goal-posts,  or  above  the  top  of  the 
goal-posts  between  centre  lines. 

Rules  7,  8,  9,  10,  II,  and  12.  All  these  rules  deal 
with  points  which  have  been  discussed  elsewhere. 

It  may  be  noted  that  the  referee  is  to  throw  in 
the  ball. 

Safety. 

13.  Whenever  a  player  either  accidentally  or  intentionally 
gives  the  ball  an  impetus  with  his  mallet  which  carries  the 
ball  over  the  goal-line  he  is  defending,  and  it  touches  nothing 
except  the  goal-post  or  the  ground  after  leaving  his  mallet, 
it  shall  be  deemed  a  safety. 

Score. 

14.  {a)  A  goal  counts  one. 

(b)   A  safety  counts  minus  one-quarter. 
(^)  A  foul  counts  minus  one-half. 

The  side  wins  which  is  credited  with  the  largest  score  at 
the  end  of  the  match. 


3IO        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Rules  13  and  14.  These  rules  introduce  an  entirely 
difFerent  method  of  scoring  from  anything  we  are  used 
to.  There  are  none  of  the  penalties  for  which  the 
revised  Hurlingham  rules  make  such  elaborate  and 
minute  provision.  The  method  is  analogous  to  that 
of  most  other  games  of  reducing  the  score  as  a 
penalty  for  foul  or  unfair  play.  A  "safety"  (an 
excellent  word,  by  the  way,  to  define  what  we  describe 
as  a  hit  behind  to  save  their  goal  by  the  defending 
side)  counts  as  —  |^,  a  foul  as  —^  a  goal. 

These  penalties  are  simpler  than  ours.  They 
have  the  advantage  of  causing  no  interruptions  to 
the  game. 

Time  Limit. 

15.  When  the  time  limit  of  any  period  (except  the  last) 
expires,  the  signal  shall  be  given,  but  the  game  shall  con- 
tinue until  the  ball  goes  out  of  bounds  or  a  goal  is  made. 
Such  overtime  in  any  period  shall  be  deducted  from  the 
playing  time  of  the  succeeding  period.  When  the  time 
limit  of  the  last  period  is  reached,  the  signal  shall  be  given 
and  the  game  shall  then  cease  with  the  ball  in  its  position 
at  the  moment  of  the  signal. 

16.  If  a  goal  is  made  when  any  fraction  of  time  remains 
to  be  played  the  game  shall  continue. 

17.  When  the  ball  is  out  of  bounds,  and  the  Hmit  of  time 
expires  before  it  is  put  in  play,  the  period  ends. 

Rules  15,  16,  and  17.  These  rules  are  the  Hur- 
lingham rules  under  a  slightly  difFerent  form. 

Tie, 

18.  In  event  of  a  tie  at  the  end  of  the  last  period,  the 


POLO  IN  AMERICA  311 

game  shall  continue  (after  the  usual  interval  between  periods) 
until  a  goal  or  safety  is  made,  or  a  foul  is  penalised. 

Out  of  Bounds, 

19.  When  the  ball  crosses  a  side  line,  it  is  out  of  bounds, 
and  shall  be  put  in  play  by  the  referee  throwing  it  up 
between  the  contestants  (lined  up  as  at  the  beginning  of 
the  game)  towards  the  middle  of  the  field,  and  parallel  to 
the  goal  lines,  at  the  point  where  it  went  over  the  boards. 
He  shall  throw  from  outside  the  side  boards. 

Knock-in, 

20.  When  a  ball  crosses  an  end  line  it  is  out  of  bounds, 
and  the  side  defending  the  goal  at  that  end  is  entitled  to  a 
knock-in,  the  ball  being  placed  on  the  line  at  the  point 
which  it  crossed,  but  in  no  case  nearer  than  ten  (10)  feet  to 
the  goal-posts  or  to  the  side  boards. 

21.  A  ball  must  be  over  and  clear  of  the  line  to  be  out. 

22.  When  a  player  having  the  knock-in  causes  delay, 
the  referee  may  throw  a  ball  on  the  field  and  call  play.  No 
opponent  shall  come  within  fifty  (50)  feet  of  the  ball,  when 
placed  for  a  knock-in,  until  the  same  has  been  hit  by  a 
mallet.  As  soon  as  the  ball  is  touched  by  the  mallet,  after 
being  placed  for  a  knock-in,  it  is  in  play,  and  subject  to  the 
rules  of  play. 

Player  Substituted, 

23.  When  a  player  is  replaced  by  a  substitute,  he  cannot 
return  to  the  team  the  same  day,  except  to  take  the  place  of 
a  player  who  is  disabled  or  disqualified. 

In  America  as  in  India  the  ball  is  bowled  in  along 
the  ground  underhand. 


312        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Handicap, 

24.  When  a  change  of  players  takes  place  after  the  game 
has  begun,  the  handicap  of  the  man  having  the  highest 
number  of  goals  shall  be  counted. 

This  rule  is  a  necessary  corollary  from  the 
American  handicap  system. 

Fouls. 

25.  The  referee  shall  declare  any  violation  of  Rules  27, 
28,  29,  and  30  a  foul,  when  seen  by  him,  without  waiting 
to  have  it  claimed ;  or,  when  not  seen,  upon  evidence 
satisfactory  to  him.  He  may  suspend  the  player  com- 
mitting the  foul  for  the  match,  but  he  shall  also  allow  the 
usual  penalty  of  one-half  goal. 

26.  In  case  of  repeated  or  wilful  violation  of  said  rules, 
especially  by  conduct  dangerous  to  the  safety  of  other 
players,  the  referee  shall  suspend  the  player  guilty  thereof 
for  the  match. 

27.  In  case  of  a  player  being  disabled  by  a  foul  so  that 
he  is  unable  to  continue,  the  side  which  has  been  fouled 
shall  have  the  option,  instead  of  providing  a  substitute,  to 
designate  the  player  on  the  opposite  side  whose  handicap  is 
nearest  above  that  of  the  disabled  player,  and  the  former 
shall  thereupon  retire  from  the  game.  This  penalty  shall 
be  in  addition  to  those  hereinbefore  provided,  and  the  game 
shall  continue  .with  each  side  reduced  by  the  above  with- 
drawals. 

The  rules  increase  the  powers  of  the  referee, 
directing  him  to  act  in  cases  of  fouls,  and  giving  him 
power  at  his  discretion  to  suspend  an  unfair  or 
dangerous  player. 


POLO  IN  AMERICA  313 

Dangerous  Riding, 

28.  Careless  or  dangerous  horsemanship  or  a  lack  of  con- 
sideration for  the  safety  of  others,  is  forbidden. 

The  following  are  examples  of  riding  prohibited  under 
this  rule : — 

{a)  Bumping  at  an  angle  dangerous  to  a  player  or  to 
his  pony. 

{b)  Zigzagging  in  front  of  another  player  riding  at  a 
gallop. 

(c)  Pulling  across  or  over  a  pony's  forelegs  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  risk  tripping  the  pony. 

Rule  28  forbids  dangerous  riding,  and  specifies 
various  kinds  of  it.  It  is,  however,  left  to  the 
discretion  of  the  umpire  to  decide  what  actions  come 
under  these  prohibitions. 

{a)  Is  a  milder  form  of  the  Indian  regulation  of 
riding  off,  it  permits  some  bumping  at  an  angle,  and 
there  is,  in  fact,  a  good  deal  of  hustling  in  American 
polo. 

(J?)  Zigzagging  is  not  common  in  England.  It 
is  regarded  as  bad  form,  and  has  been  unhesitatingly 
condemned  by  many  leading  players,  but  it  is  not 
actually  forbidden  unless  it  causes  the  player  in 
possession  to  check  his  pony. 

(f)  This  seems  a  cross  pure  and  simple,  for  it 
could  not  be  done  at  a  walk,  and  at  a  gallop  would 
cause  the  other  man  to  pull  up. 

Right  of  Way. 

29.  A.  The  right  of  way  is  given  to  the  player  who  has 
last  hit  the  ball,  or  to  the  player  who  has  entered  safely  on 


314        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

the  line  of  the  ball  between  it  and  the  last  hitter,  or  (as 
against  players  not  in  possession  of  the  ball)  to  the  player 
who  is  following  nearer  than  any  other  player  the  line  of 
direction  of  the  ball. 

Crossing. 

B.  A  player  shall  not  cross  a  player  having  the  right  of 
way,  except  at  an  unquestionably  safe  distance ;  nor  shall 
he  pull  up  in  front  of  the  latter  unless  he  is  far  enough 
ahead  to  give  the  latter  unquestionably  enough  time  to  pull 
up  also ;  nor  shall  he  pull  up  across  the  latter  on  any  con- 
sideration whatsoever. 

Rule  29  gives  possession  to  the  player  who  is 
most  directly  on  the  line  of  the  ball,  as  is  done  in 
the  Hurlingham  rules.  B  defines  crossing.  Ex- 
perience has  shown  us  in  England  that  the  only  safe 
way  to  define  a  cross  is  to  make  the  test  of  it,  that 
the  man  crossed  should  be  obliged  to  check  his  pony 
when  galloping  for  the  ball.  I  played  in  India  for 
some  years  under  a  rule  as  to  crossing  practically 
identical  with  that  in  this  code,  but  it  proved  most 
ineffectual  to  check  the  habit.  This  is  a  most 
dangerous  practice,  and  may  be  the  cause  of  some 
serious  accidents. 

Meeting. 

30.  Whenever  two  players  are  riding  in  opposite  direc- 
tions for  the  ball,  each  shall  leave  the  ball  on  his  off  side. 

A  simple  and  excellent  rule. 

Other  Prohibitions. 

31.  A.  A  player  shall  not  strike  an  adversary  or  his  own 


POLO  IN  AMERICA  315 

or  his  adversary's  pony,  with  the  hands  or  mallet,  or  strike 
the  ball  when  dismounted. 

B.  A  player  shall  not  interpose  his  mallet  to  interfere 
with  an  opponent's  stroke. 

C.  A  player  shall  not  put  his  mallet  over  his  adversary's 
pony  either  in  front  or  behind. 

D.  A  player  shall  not  seize  with  the  hand,  strike  or 
push  with  the  head,  hand,  arm,  or  elbow,  but  a  player  may 
push  with  his  shoulder,  provided  the  elbow  be  kept  close  to 
his  side. 

E.  A  player  requiring  a  mallet,  pony,  or  assistance  from 
an  outside  person  during  the  game,  shall  ride  to  the  end  or 
side  Hnes  to  procure  it.  No  person  shall  come  on  the  field 
to  assist  him. 

F.  A  player  shall  not  hold  the  ball  in  his  hand,  arm,  or 
lap,  nor  shall  he  kick  or  hit  the  ball  with  any  part  of  his 
person.  He  may,  however,  block  the  ball  with  any  part  of 
his  person  or  with  his  pony. 

Rule  31  forbids  the  use  of  the  stick  on  the 
adversary's  pony.  It  also  disallows  stick-crooking, 
a  practice  which  some  American  players  thought  an 
improvement  when  they  saw  how  it  worked  in  the 
English  game. 

The  remainder  of  the  rule  is  practically  identical 
with  provisions  to  be  found  in  the  English  rules. 
The  permission  in  the  last  clause  requires  some 
heroism  to  avail  oneself  of.  On  the  occasions  when  I 
have  "  blocked "  a  polo  ball  with  any  part  of  my 
person,  it  has  been  quite  involuntary  and  very 
painful. 

Fines. 

32.  The  referee  shall  also  have  the  power  to  impose  a 


3i6        POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

fine  (the  amount  to  be  determined  by  the  Committee)  on 
any  team  or  member  of  a  team  failing  to  appear  within 
reasonable  time  of  the  hour  named  for  the  events  for  which 
they  have  entered,  or  for  any  misconduct  or  violation  of  the 
rules  during  the  progress  of  the  game,  and  shall  report  the 
same  in  writing  to  the  Committee  for  enforcement. 

This  is  a  provision  which  could  hardly  be  added 
to  the  English  rules. 

Penalty. 

33.  The  referee  may  at  his  discretion  award  a  penalty  of 
half  a  goal  for  any  violation  of  Field  Rules  not  covered  by 
Rule  24. 

Rule  33  gives  a  referee  a  discretion  similar  to 
that  bestowed  on  the  English  umpire  to  check  fouls 
not  provided  for  in  the  rules. 

Suspension  of  Play, 

34.  A.  When  a  foul  is  allowed  by  the  referee,  he  may 
or  may  not  stop  the  game,  according  to  his  judgment  as  to 
the  advantage  gained  or  lost  by  the  foul. 

Accident. 

B.  In  case  of  an  accident  to  a  player  or  to  a  pony,  or  to 
a  pony's  gear,  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  referee,  involves 
danger  to  a  player,  he  shall  stop  the  game.  It  shall  not  be 
stopped  for  a  broken  or  lost  mallet,  stirrup  leather,  curb 
chain,  or  martingale  (unless  liable  to  trip  a  pony). 

Broken  Ball. 

C.  When  a  ball  is  broken  or  trodden  into  the  ground  in 
a  manner  to  be  unserviceable,  in  the  opinion  of  the  referee, 


^5 


^    ;$  ^ 


POLO  IN  AMERICA  317 

or  when  it  strikes  the  referee  or  his  pony  so  as,  in  his 
opinion,  to  affect  the  game  seriously,  he  shall  stop  the 
game,  and  may  substitute  another  ball  by  throwing  it 
towards  the  middle  of  the  field  between  the  players  at  the 
point  where  the  event  occurred. 

Change  of  Pontes, 

D.  In  the  case  often  (10)  minutes'  continuous  play,  the 
referee  shall  stop  the  game  for  a  change  of  ponies  as  soon 
thereafter  as  the  ball  goes  out  of  bounds.  Not  exceeding 
two  (2)  minutes  shall  be  allowed  for  this  purpose. 

Other  Cause. 

E.  The  referee  may  suspend  the  game  for  any  other 
reasonable  cause. 

Time  Lost. 

F.  Time  lost  under  paragraphs  A,  B,  C,  D,  and  E,  shall 
not  be  counted  in  actual  play. 

Referee's  Whistle. 

35.  In  all  the  above  cases  the  play  is  not  suspended 
until  the  referee's  whistle  blows,  but  the  game  shall  be 
considered  stopped  at  the  time  the  event  occurred.  The 
ball,  when  placed  again  in  play,  shall  be  thrown  by  the 
referee  toward  the  middle  of  the  field  at  the  point  at  which 
the  ball  was  when  the  event  occasioning  the  suspension  of 
the  game  occurred. 

Failure  to  Finish. 

36.  In  the  event  of  a  game  being  stopped  by  darkness, 
or  for  any  cause  which  prevents  a  finish  the  same  day,  it 
shall  be  resumed  at  the  point  at  which  it  stopped,  as  to 
score  and  position  of  the  ball,  at  the  earliest  convenient 
time,  unless  settled  otherwise  by  agreement  between  the 
captains. 


31 8        POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Rules  25  ^^^  3^  regulate  the  blowing  of  the 
umpire's  whistle  and  the  renewal  of  a  match  stopped 
by  darkness  on  the  following  day.  I  wonder  if 
players  ever  avail  themselves  of  this  rule  ? 

The  American  rules  must  strike  every  reader  by 
their  simplicity  and  clearness,  and  1  may  also  note 
that  the  compilers  have  been  particularly  happy  in 
the  use  of  apt  terms.  Thus  the  word  "  safety  *' 
admirably  expresses  the  object  of  the  hit  behind 
their  own  back  line  by  the  defending  side  when  the 
goal  is  in  danger.  Then  the  word  "  guard  "  exactly 
expresses  the  purpose  boards  are  intended  to  serve, 
and  the  expression  "  guarded  "  or  "  unguarded  '* 
ground  is  at  once  more  expressive  and  graceful  than 
boarded  and  unboarded,  which,  indeed,  if  you  come 
to  think,  might  just  as  well  mean  that  the  ground 
was  floored  with  boards  as  guarded  by  them.  It 
may  be  hoped  that  these  apt  words  will  find  a  place 
in  the  technical  vocabulary  of  polo  all  over  the 
world. 

The  above  code  of  rules  is  accepted  everywhere 
throughout  the  United  States  of  America  except  at 
a  small  group  of  clubs  in  California,  where  polo  is 
played  under  Hurlingham  rules.  This  would,  to 
a  certain  extent,  be  disadvantageous  to  the  game  in 
the  West  if  it  were  not  for  their  isolated  position. 

The  American  polo  rules  are  suited  for  the  style 
of  game  they  play — a  free,  open,  galloping  game, 
giving  great  scope  for  dash  and  horsemanship.  It 
has  been  said  by  one  of  our  leading  players  that  the 
game  played  under  American  rules  at  Roehampton 


POLO  IN  AMERICA  319 

showed  a  strong  attack  and  a  weak  defence.  It  is 
of  course  true  that  the  back  has  not  the  advantages 
under  American  rules  that  he  has  in  England,  but 
so  far  as  I  can  see,  he  has  even  greater  opportunities 
for  sound  defence.  The  American  "  backs "  are 
quicker  than  our  English  No.  4  players,  and  some 
of  Mr.  L.  Waterbury's  defensive  strokes  were  as 
fine  as  anything  I  have  seen  since  the  palmy 
days  of  the  12th  B.  C.  Although  the  American 
periods  of  play  are  longer  than  ours,  yet,  inasmuch 
as  owing  to  their  open  game  there  are  more  goals 
and  the  ball  goes  out  of  play  more  frequently,  ponies 
are  changed  at  shorter  intervals.  It  is  thought  in 
America,  and  with  justice,  that  if  the  English  ten- 
minutes  rule  was  adopted,  it  would  tend  to  favour 
the  rich  more,  since  "our  cheaper  ponies  can  play 
for  five  or  six  minutes,  but  few  of  them  for  ten."  ^ 
Thus  American  players  are  unwilling  to  place  their 
ponies  and  their  riders  at  a  disadvantage,  and  those 
of  us  who  look  forward  to  shorter  periods  as  one 
great  means  of  cheapening  and  popularising  polo, 
will  argue  that  the  A.  P. A.  is  right  to  make  no 
change.  The  only  alteration  which  seems  to  me  to 
be  a  possible  improvement  would  be  to  introduce  the 
Indian  Polo  Association  rule  about  riding  off.  I 
have  given  some  reasons  for  the  opinion  that  too 
much  bumping  and  hustling  is  a  disadvantage  to 
the  game,  and  that  rule  is  the  best  regulation  of 
hustling.     It  has  been  adopted  as  a  bye-law  by  the 

^  Even  in  England  the  ten-minutes  rule  is  a  severe  tax  on  all  but  the  best  and 
most  expensive  ponies. 


320        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

New  Zealand  Polo  Association.  We  have  no  desire 
to  lessen  the  occasions  for  those  contests  in  skill  and 
horsemanship  that  make  polo  an  exciting  game,  but 
it  is  our  object  to  make  polo  cheaper  and  safer  than 

it  is  now. 

We  have  seen,  then,  that  the  American  Polo 
Association  is  a  strong  body,  able  to  regulate  the 
game,  and  to  exercise,  when  called  for,  the  discipline 
which  is  necessary  to  keep  any  sport  from  degenera- 
tion. The  rules,  if  not  always  in  accordance  with 
English  ideas,  are  suited  to  the  conditions  of  polo 
in  America.  In  their  handicap  they  have  a  great 
advantage,  and  their  style  of  game,  if  different  from 
ours,  has  advantages  of  its  own.  Whether  the 
English  style  of  play  with  a  strong  defence  and  a 
weak  attack,  or  the  American  with  a  strong  attack 
and  a  weak  defence,  is  the  better  is  a  point  it  is 
useless  to  discuss,  for  time  and  the  experience  of 
players  will  decide  it  some  day  quite  independently 
of  anything  we  may  say  or  think. 

As  to  American  ponies,  they  come  next  to  English 
and  Irish.  But  they  lack  one  element  which  makes 
the  English  and  Irish  ponies  the  best  in  the  world, 
the  foundation  of  the  native  pony — Welsh,  Exmoor, 
Dartmoor.  The  American  ponies  are  dwarf  horses 
in  reality,  and  it  has  been  proved  by  experience  that, 
except  in  rare  instances,  the  dwarf  horse  does  not 
make  so  good  a  polo  pony  as  the  animal  with  true 
pony  blood  in  its  veins.  But  in  one  point  American 
polo  players  have  an  advantage.  The  source 
of  supply    is    practically    unlimited,    and    the    price 


MR.     WILLIAM    A.    HAZARD. 
HON.    SECiETAKY    AMERICAN    POLO    ASSOCIATION. 


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POLO  IN  AMERICA  321 

moderate.  Dealers  bring  from  Texas  or  elsewhere 
ponies  to  New  York.  Great  pains  are  taken  with 
their  training,  and  a  few  are  equal  to  the  English 
first-class  ponies,  and  nearly  all  are  easier  to  ride. 
A  very  large  number  of  our  well-bred  English 
ponies  want  a  horseman  to  play  or  make  them  do 
their  best,  whereas  American  ponies  are  generally 
easy  to  ride.  They  want,  I  think,  less  schooling,  and 
are  less  spoilt  by  bad  handling  than  ours.  Thus, 
though  at  first-class  polo  English  ponies  have  the 
advantage,  yet,  on  the  whole,  there  is  no  great  balance 
on  either  side  in  this  matter.  It  will  always  be 
possible  for  international  games  to  take  place  on 
even  terms,  and  this  in  itself  adds  immensely  to 
the  interest  taken  in  polo,  and  gives  occasion  for 
meetings  between  the  sportsmen  of  both  countries, 
which  we  on  this  side  thoroughly  enjoy. 

Since  writing  the  above  I  have  heard  of  the 
formation  of  a  Canadian  Polo  Association.  This 
body  has  adopted  Hurlingham  rules,  with  the  sig- 
nificant exception  of  offside.  The  view  taken  in 
America  is  that  while  offside  is  wanted  in  small 
and  cramped  grounds,  where  plenty  of  space  is 
available  the  free  open  style  of  play  without  offside 
is  preferable. 


CHAPTER  XVII 


THE    RULES    OF    POLO    IN    ENGLAND 


When  polo  came  to  England  the  game  had  no 
rules.  The  first  regulations  were  the  work  of  the 
Hurlingham  Committee  of  1 872,  and  a  comparison  of 
those  rules  with  the  existing  code  will  make  clear  to 
the  reader  how  much  the  rules  have  developed  since 
then.  In  the  chapter  on  the  early  history  of  polo  at 
Hurlingham  I  have  shown  how  a  fuller  and  in  some 
respects  a  stricter  code  became  necessary,  and  how 
penalties  have  grown  in  number  and  severity.  The 
polo  committee  of  the  Hurlingham  club  has  been  the 
body  that  has  made  the  rules,  although  the  constitu- 
tion of  that  committee  has  from  time  to  time  been 
altered,  in  order  to  give  it  a  character  more  represent- 

322 


RULES  OF  POLO  IN  ENGLAND     323 

ative  of  the  large  and  increasing  number  of  players  who 
are  not  members  of  the  club.  When  nearly  all  polo 
players  were  members  of  Hurlingham,  the  general 
committee  of  that  club  appointed  a  sub-committee  to 
regulate  polo.  This  committee  included  the  names 
of  men  who  were  among  the  leading  players.  Then, 
as  clubs  increased,  the  committee  admitted  the  right 
of  other  clubs  to  send  representatives  to  Hurling- 
ham, provided  always  that  the  men  who  were  chosen 
were  members  of  Hurlingham.  This  was  sufficient 
at  the  time.  Most  county  clubs  had  one  or  more 
members  of  Hurlingham  among  them,  and,  even  if 
the  restriction  had  not  existed,  it  would  have  been 
convenient  to  send  those  men  as  representatives  to 
Hurlingham  who  were  likely  to  be  in  town  for  at 
least  some  part  of  the  polo  season. 

It  was  not  until  the  year  1903  that  the  Committee 
was  greatly  enlarged,  and  a  definite  representation 
was  determined  on.  Anxious  no  doubt  to  preserve 
the  old  association  of  Hurlingham  with  polo,  it  was 
determined  that  the  members  sent  from  other  clubs 
should  still  be  members  of  Hurlingham.  In  other 
respects  the  various  bodies  were  free  to  send  whom 
they  pleased.  It  was  left  to  the  clubs  and  the  County 
Polo  Association  to  give  what  instructions  they 
thought  right  to  their  delegates,  and,  in  consequence, 
the  last-named  body  has  undoubtedly  exercised  a  very 
considerable  and  salutary  influence  on  recent  revisions 
of  the  rules. 

There  has,  since  the  South  African  War,  been  a 
revival  of  interest  in  various  questions  raised  by  the 


324        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

rules,  and  the  latest  revision  of  the  code  is  an  attempt 
to  deal  with  some  of  the  most  important  points  which 
seemed  to  need  alteration,  or  at  least  clearer  wording. 
The  general  effect  of  the  changes  has  been  to  bring 
the  English  rules  more  in  accordance  with  those  of 
the  Indian  Polo  Association.  The  rules  as  revised 
are  dealt  with  in  this  chapter,  and  each  rule  is  com- 
mented on  and  explained,  so  far  as  is  necessary,  with 
reference  to  its  past  history  and  the  state  of  the  game 
at  the  present  time.  We  must  remember  that  it  is 
by  these  rules  that  we  have  to  regulate  our  play,  and 
that  it  is  important  to  understand  them  thoroughly. 

Height. 

I.  The  height  of  ponies  shall  not  exceed  14  hands  2  in., 
and  no  pony  shall  be  played,  either  in  practice  games  or 
matches,  unless  it  has  been  registered  in  accordance  with 
the  Rules  of  Measurement.     (Penalty  9.) 

This  is  the  first,  and  in  some  respects  the  most 
important  rule  of  all.  The  original  rule  No.  i  laid 
down  that  the  height  of  ponies  must  not  exceed 
14  hands.  This  regulation  was  never  very  strictly 
observed  or  enforced,  for  no  attempt  was  made  to 
organise  the  official  measurement  and  registration  of 
ponies.  Every  one  played  on  any  pony  he  could 
find.  It  is  often  said  that  many  of  the  polo  ponies 
played  before  the  present  rule  was  passed  were  15 
hands,  and  even  more.  I  think  there  is  some  exagger- 
ation about  this  statement,  and  that  at  no  time  was 
the  average  much  over  14.2.     I  infer  this  from  the 


RULES  OF  POLO  IN  ENGLAND     325 

small  number  of  rejections  which  have  taken  place. 
The  ponies  do  not  look  much  smaller  than  they  used 
to  do,  and  we  still  hear  remarks  about  the  large  size 
of  ponies.  Yet  if  we  consider  that  every  pony  is 
measured  under  the  Hurlingham  conditions,  and  by 
men  of  the  highest  professional  character  and  experi- 
ence, we  must  feel  that  there  is  in  reality  very  little 
room  for  error.  Nor  do  I  believe  that  any  great 
amount  of  preparation  for  measurement  in  an  objec- 
tionable sense  exists.  No  doubt  owners  of  ponies  try 
to  have  them  measured  under  the  circumstances  most 
favourable  to  passing  under  the  standard.  It  is, 
moreover,  the  duty  of  the  official  measurer  to  pass  a 
pony  if  he  can,  and  it  is  in  the  interest  of  the  game 
that  he  should  do  so.  A  pony,  it  is  well  known,  does 
not  at  all  times  measure  the  same  height.  I  remember 
one  morning  in  India  bringing  a  pony  to  be  measured 
under  West  of  India  Turf  Club  rules.  It  was  a  cold 
morning  and  the  pony  had  had  a  gallop.  She  was  sent 
before  the  committee  and  measured  13  hands  easily, 
though  never  before  or  since  would  she  pass  under 
the  standard  at  less  than  13.1^.  But  I  have  known 
instances  of  even  greater  variation.  Yet,  after  all, 
the  matter  is  not  one  of  very  great  importance  except 
to  the  owner  of  the  pony,  the  value  of  which  is  con- 
siderably enhanced  by  the  fact  that  he  possesses  a 
Hurlingham  certificate.  That  which  really  makes  a 
difference  to  the  other  players  is  the  actual,  not  the 
measured  size,  and  the  weight  of  the  pony,  which  is 
not  much  affected  by  small  differences  in  a  measure- 
ment so  purely  conventional  as  that  of  the  height  of 


326        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

a  horse  at  the  withers.  We  adhere  to  this  way 
of  measuring  because  no  better  can  be  suggested. 
Apparent  variations  in  height  are  no  reason  for 
impugning  the  soundness  of  the  system,  and  the 
Hurlingham  certificate  in  a  vast  majority  of  cases 
represents  within  a  fraction  the  true  height  of  the 
pony.  It  does  not  in  fact  matter  very  much  what 
the  height  fixed  is,  so  long  as  we  have  a  standard  to 
which  all  must  approximate  as  nearly  as  nature  will 
allow.  The  14.2  rule  was  passed  in  1894,  not  with- 
out considerable  resistance  at  the  time.  It  was 
believed  that  any  strictly  enforced  rule  would  reduce 
the  already  insufficient  supply  of  ponies. 

But  as  I  have  pointed  out  in  a  former  work,  the 
natural  height  of  the  horse  is  about  14.2,  and  there 
are  many  more  animals  of  that  height  than  there  are 
of  14  or  15  hands.^ 

The  reason  why  the  rule  that  ponies  should  be 
14  hands  was  disregarded  was  that  the  supply  at 
that  height  was  found  to  be  utterly  inadequate.  To 
have  enforced  the  rule  would  have  killed  the  game. 
The  passing  of  the  14.2  rule  gave  a  stimulus  to  the 
pony  market,  and  made  possible  the  operations  of  the 
Polo  and  Riding  Pony  Society. 

The  14.2  pony  was  found  to  exist  in  hitherto  un- 
suspected quantities,  for  about  14.2  was  shown  to  be 
the  height  of  most  of  the  existing  ponies.  The  rights 
of  those  who  owned  ponies  above  the  new  standard 
were  safeguarded  by  creating  a  class  of  "  existing  " 
polo   ponies.      A   certificate   was    granted,    without 

^  Riding  and  Polo  Ponies,  p.  49. 


RULES  OF  POLO  IN  ENGLAND     327 

measurement,  to  all  ponies  played  in  certain  matches 
before  a  specified  date.  This  was  obvious  justice. 
Nevertheless  murmurs  arose  that  the  rule  was  being 
evaded  systematically  in  two  ways.  First,  that  ponies 
were  prepared  for  measurement  by  methods  which 
were  cruel  and  unfair.  The  attention  of  the 
Hurlingham  Committee  was  drawn  by  the  P.  and 
R.P.S.  Council  to  the  practices,  or  supposed 
practices  in  vogue.  The  members  of  the  latter 
society  being  mostly  breeders  of  ponies  were  much 
interested. 

On  inquiry  the  Hurlingham  Committee  found 
that,  while  the  extent  of  such  practices  had  been 
gready  exaggerated,  there  was  some  foundation  for  the 
charge.  In  any  case  the  idea  of  such  practices  being 
in  vogue  depreciated  the  value  of  the  Hurlingham 
Committee's  certificate,  and  several  agricultural  shows 
refused  to  accept  it.  The  Polo  and  Riding  Pony 
Society,  however,  gave  useful  support  by  accepting 
the  Hurlingham  certificate,  and  indeed  making  it 
compulsory  for  ponies  entered  in  its  stud  book. 
At  the  same  time  I  think  that  the  picturesque  stories 
of  "  faking "  were  made  too  much  of.  Again  the 
confidence  felt  in  Sir  H.  Simpson,  the  late,  and  Mr. 
Sheather,  the  present,  official  measurer,  has  con- 
tributed much  to  establish  the  Hurlingham  certificate 
in  its  proper  position. 

The  rule,  however,  was  evaded  in  another  way, 
which  became  easy  as  polo  grew  popular  and  the 
number  of  ponies  employed  increased.  A  pony 
which  had  been  rejected  or  which  obviously  could  not 


328        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

be  measured,  might  be  played,  even  at  Hurlingham 
itself,  and  possibly  in  a  tournament.  Sold  as  a  "  good 
polo  pony" — for  auctioneers  take  no  responsibility 
as  to  whether  polo  ponies  offered  at  their  sales  are 
registered  or  not — "  that  had  played  at  one  or  other 
of  the  first-class  clubs,"  such  a  pony  might  easily,  as 
some  did  and  do,  work  its  way  into  circulation  as  a 
polo  pony.  This  has  been  met  by  adding  a  penalty 
of  disqualification  of  the  whole  team  in  which  such  a 
pony  plays,  and  thus  practically  throwing  on  the 
captain  of  the  team  the  responsibility  of  seeing  that 
the  ponies  are  all  registered.  This,  however,  seems 
still  to  leave  a  loophole  open  for  the  introduction  of 
ponies  over  height,  since  it  is  no  one's  business  to 
find  out  whether  the  team  has  such  a  pony  among 
possibly  twenty  or  more  brought  for  play. 

The  rule  might  be  strengthened  in  two  ways. 

I  St.  That  every  captain  when  entering  a  team 
should  deposit  a  list  of  ponies  with  their  registered 
numbers.  There  need  be  no  difficulty  in  changing 
one  or  more  of  the  ponies  if  it  is  desired  to  do  so, 
always  provided  the  registered  number  of  the  sub- 
stitute is  given. 

2nd,  If  auctioneers  would  insist  on  the  insertion 
of  the  registered  number  of  the  pony  in  their  catalogues 
when  he  has  one.  The  absence  of  a  number  would 
inform  buyers  that  the  pony  had  not  been  measured, 
and  put  them  on  their  guard.  It  may  be  added, 
however,  that  no  prudent  purchaser  would  buy  a 
pony,  unless  he  had  first  ascertained  whether  the 
pony's  height  was  registered  at  Hurlingham. 


RULES  OF  POLO  IN  ENGLAND      329 

Unsafe  Pony. 

2.  No  pony  showing  vice  or  not  under  proper  control 
shall  be  allowed  in  the  game.     (Penalty  10.) 

This  is  one  of  the  most  important  rules,  with  re- 
gard to  the  safety  of  players.  A  vicious  or  uncon- 
trollable pony  is  a  constant  source  of  danger.  In  my 
own  experience  many  serious  accidents  have  occurred 
as  a  consequence  of  a  pony  being  under  insufficient 
control.  But  this  rule  is  now  so  carefully  enforced, 
that  it  is  very  rare  to  see  a  pony  at  a  well-managed 
club  that  is  really  dangerous  to  its  rider  or  the  other 
players. 

Games  are  arranged  at  most  county  clubs  known 
as  "  cantering  games  "in  which  young  ponies  may 
be  tested.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact  it  is  not  only 
wrong  to  bring  a  pony  with  a  temper  on  to  a  polo 
ground,  but  useless,  for  such  a  pony  will  never  play 
well.  Sometimes,  however,  ponies  develop  vice 
quite  suddenly,  and  I  have  known  two  cases  of 
hitherto  perfectly  well-mannered  ponies  suddenly 
kicking  in  a  game,  and  one  of  a  hitherto  blameless  pony 
taking  to  biting.  Such  ponies  would,  however,  be 
rightly  allowed  no  second  chance  in  any  polo  club 
nowadays. 

Ground. 

3.  The  goals  to  be  not  less  than  250  yards  apart,  and 
each  goal  to  be  8  yards  wide.  A  full-sized  ground  should 
not  exceed  300  yards  in  length  by  200  yards  in  width,  if 
unboarded  ;  and  300  yards  in  length  and  160  yards  in  width 
if  boarded. 


330       POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

This  rule  establishes  a  minimum  and  maximum 
size  for  a  match  ground,  and  offers  advice  as  to  the 
size  of  a  boarded  ground.  The  dimensions  of  the 
polo  ground  were  brought  from  India,  but  it  was 
some  years  before  there  was  a  full-sized  ground  in 
England.  The  original  polo  ground  at  Hurlingham, 
though  larger  than  its  predecessor  at  Lillie  Bridge, 
was  still  much  smaller  than  most  Indian  grounds.  It 
was  then,  as  it  is  still  (though  it  has  been  greatly 
enlarged  and  improved),  of  an  irregular  oval  shape. 
Then  came  Ranelagh,  and  this  was  the  first  club  to 
lay  out  a  ground  exactly  of  the  size  recommended 
here.  I  remember  going  over  the  match  ground 
with  the  late  Mr,  Moray  Brown  soon  after  he  had 
become  polo  manager  at  Ranelagh,  and  after  some 
trouble  we  succeeded  in  measuring  out  a  ground  that 
was  300  yards  by  160  yards.  In  those  days  we 
should  have  liked  another  40  yards  of  width.  I 
believe  this  ground  was  at  that  time  one  of  the  largest 
in  England. 

However,  the  first  full-sized  ground  that  was 
made  near  London  was  at  Eden  Park.  It  was  the 
experience  gained  on  that  ground  that  led  polo 
players  to  think  that  a  ground  of  less  width  than 
200  yards  was  needed  when  the  sides  were  boarded. 
The  surface  of  an  Indian  polo  ground  is  much  harder 
and  quicker  than  the  soft  turf  of  England  ;  the  bam- 
boo-root ball  is  lighter  than  our  willow-root  one,  and 
therefore  is  more  likely  to  go  out  of  bounds.  But 
when  men  began  to  play  on  a  full-sized  ground  in 
England,  it  was  soon  noticed  that  the  ball  went  out 


A 

b 


1    ^ 

|f  j 


B 


D 
b 


[]F 
C 


U 


III! 

n  I 


/^o  y^6*. 


PLAN    OF    POLO     GROUND. 


A-B,  D-C,  Boards  300  yards  long. 

E-F,  E-F,  Line  60  yards  from  back  line. 

a-a,    a-a,  Goal  line  8  yards  from  post  to  post. 

b-b,    b-b,  Line  30  yards  from  back  line. 

G  Pavilion. 

F,  F,  Scoring  boards. 

U  Umpire  bowling  in  new  ball  when  former  one  has  been^damagedL 


RULES  OF  POLO  IN  ENGLAND     331 

but  seldom, — sometimes  not  once  in  ten  minutes  or 
longer.  The  pace  at  which  good  polo  is  now  played 
makes  ten  minutes  quite  long  enough  for  a  period 
at  polo,  but,  inasmuch  as  the  bell  is  not  rung  to  close 
the  period  until  the  ball  goes  out,  it  may  often  happen 
that  ponies  are  kept  going  for  several  minutes  over 
the  prescribed  time.  The  experience  at  Eden  Park 
showed  that  the  want  of  the  intervals  of  rest  afforded 
by  the  ball  going  out,  were  greatly  missed  by  the 
players  and  ponies. 

Opinion  among  players  has  wavered  for  some 
time  as  to  whether  150  or  170  yards  is  the  better 
width  for  a  match  ground.  The  former  is  probably 
the  better,  but  1 60  yards  may  perhaps  hit  the  happy 
mean.  Yet  managers  of  county  clubs  and  others, 
who  may  find  a  difficulty  in  securing  a  suitable 
extent  of  level  ground,  may  take  comfort  in  re- 
flecting that  while  300x160  is  expedient,  250 
yards  in  length  and  24  feet  between  the  goal-posts 
is  all  that  is  actually  required.  The  question  of 
breadth  is  left  open.  Yet  there  is  no  doubt  that 
the  dimensions  recommended,  which  are  the  result 
of  some  years  of  experience,  should  be,  as  far  as 
possible,  adhered  to  in  the  laying  out  of  new 
grounds. 

This  reduction  of  the  size  of  the  polo  ground 
may  be  viewed  with  a  certain  amusement  when  we 
recollect  that  it  was  foretold,  when  the  present 
Rule  I  was  passed,  that  the  increase  in  the  height 
of  ponies  used  would  lead  to  great  inconvenience,  as 
it  would  certainly  make  necessary  a  general  increase 


332        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

in  the  size  of  polo  grounds.  But  it  has  turned  out 
that  a  general  decrease  is  the  real  effect  of  a  fast 
game. 

Size  and  Weight  of  Balls. 

4.  The  size  of  the  balls  shall  not  exceed  3J  inches  in 
diameter,  and  the  weight  of  the  ball  shall  not  exceed 
5J  ounces. 

The  balls  used  in  England  are  made  of  willow- 
root,  and  are  painted  white.  The  present  rule  allows 
a  slightly  greater  size  and  weight  than  the  one  before, 
but  it  probably  only  makes  permissible  the  size  and 
weight  which  have  long  been  used. 

Umpire.     Referee. 

5.  Each  side  shall  nominate  an  umpire,  unless  it  be 
mutually  agreed  to  play  with  one  instead  of  two  ;  and  his 
or  their  decisions  shall  be  final.  In  important  matches,  in 
addition  to  the  umpires  a  referee  may  be  appointed,  whose 
decision,  in  the  event  of  the  umpires  disagreeing,  shall  be 
final. 

Whistle.      Umpire.     Referee, 

6.  The  umpire  shall  carry  a  whistle,  which  he  shall  use 
as  required.  If  the  umpire  blow  his  whistle  the  ball  is 
dead,  but  if  the  other  umpire  disagrees,  a  referee  shall  be 
called  in,  who,  after  consulting  both  umpires  and  taking 
any  necessary  evidence,  shall  decide  on  the  course  to  be 
pursued. 

These  two  rules  may  be  taken  as  one.  Rule  5 
is  often  broken.  Matches  are  played  without  an 
umpire  at  all.  It  is  very  rare  for  the  sides  to 
nominate  an  umpire  in  England.     In  New  Zealand 


RULES  OF  POLO  IN  ENGLAND     333 

it  is  not  uncommon  for  a  team,  when  on  a  visit  to 
a  tournament  at  another  club,  to  take  an  umpire 
with  them.  The  usual  practice  in  England  is  for 
the  polo  manager  of  the  club  where  the  match  is 
played  to  appoint  the  umpires.  This  seems  to  be 
the  better  plan,  since  it  is  undesirable  that  the 
sympathies  of  the  umpires  should  be  identified  with 
any  team.  In  India  there  are  some  very  useful 
instructions  to  umpires,  which  are  put  out  under 
the  authority  of  the  Indian  Polo  Association. 

The  most  noteworthy  addition  to  this  rule  is 
that  when  the  umpire  blows  his  whistle  the  ball 
is  dead.  The  umpire  therefore  takes  the  whole 
responsibility  of  stopping  the  game,  the  moment  he 
puts  the  whistle  to  his  lips.  No  one  but  the  other 
umpire  may  question  the  decision.  The  players 
must  submit  in  silence. 

If  the  other  umpire  disagrees,  the  referee  who  is 
to  be  appointed  in  all  important  matches — this  word 
"important'*  seems  to  need  further  definition — is 
to  be  appealed  to.  The  referee  may  not  often  be 
called  in,  but,  none  the  less,  his  is  a  necessary 
office.  It  is  impossible  perhaps  to  provide  against 
all  cases  of  injustice,  but  the  following  might  bear 
hardly  on  a  side  : — One  umpire.  A,  gives  a  foul  and 
blows  his  whistle,  the  other,  B,  disagrees.  The 
referee,  C,  decides  against  A,  but  the  ball  is  dead, 
and  the  mischief  is  done  and  cannot  be  repaired. 

It  is  easy  to  imagine  a  case  in  which  the  side 
which  was  in  possession  of  the  ball  might  suffer 
considerable  disadvantage  from  the  mere  fact  of  the 


334        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

game  being  stopped  at  that  juncture.  Nevertheless, 
the  absolute  prohibition  of  wrangling  or  argument 
is  a  great  advantage.  Umpires  will  do  their  work 
all  the  better,  and  give  their  decisions  more  freely 
if  they  are  not  to  be  called  upon  to  give  their 
reasons  or  hear  outspoken  condemnation  of  their 
decision  by  excited  players.  Moreover,  it  is  ob- 
vious that  there  are  some  cases  in  which  the  second 
umpire  could  not  disagree.  For  example,  only  one 
umpire  is  usually  in  a  position  to  see  an  "  offside.'* 
This,  which  is  one  of  the  points  most  often  dis- 
puted, can  henceforth  scarcely  be  a  subject  for 
appeal.  It  is  not  perhaps  likely  that  umpires  will 
often  feel  obliged  to  exercise  the  severe  penalty 
for  disputing  their  decisions,  which  would  almost 
certainly  result  in  the  loss  of  the  match  to  the  side 
that  had  a  man  disqualified. 

Time- Keeper  and  Scorer, 

7.  An  official  time-keeper  and  scorer  shall  be  employed 
in  all  games  and  matches. 

The  duties  of  the  time -keeper  and  scorer  are 
important,  and  should  be  entrusted  to  a  person 
who  can  keep  a  clear  head  and  will  pay  attention 
to  what  he  is  doing.  In  a  close-fought  game  every 
moment  is  of  importance,  and  the  error  of  a  fraction 
of  a  minute  either  way  may  cause  a  side  to  win  or 
lose  a  match.  The  time-keeper  must  be  provided 
with  a  stop-watch,  and  should  use  it  carefully.  As 
each  ten  minutes  draws  to  a  close  he  must  be  on 
the   look-out  to   have  the  bell   rung  at  the  exact 


RULES  OF  POLO  IN  ENGLAND     335 

moment.  Then  he  must  estimate  accurately  the 
time  that  elapses  between  the  ringing  of  the  bell 
and  the  instant  when  the  ball  goes  out  of  play. 
That  time  has  to  be  subtracted  from  the  next 
period,  which,  instead  of  ten,  may  thus  be  eight 
or  seven  minutes  or  less.  This  is  particularly 
important  in  the  penultimate  period  of  a  match, 
since  the  ball  is  dead  and  the  game  must  cease  on 
the  first  stroke  of  the  last  bell.  In  this  case,  thirty 
seconds  added  to  or  subtracted  from  the  last  period 
will  make  all  the  difference.  Again,  directly  the 
umpire  blows  his  whistle  for  a  foul  or  an  accident, 
the  time  should  be  taken.  If  the  umpire  decides 
to  allow  time,  as  he  would  do  in  case  of  an  accident, 
or  if  a  foul  is  given  by  one  umpire,  opposed  by  the 
other,  and  disallowed  by  the  referee,  the  time  must 
be  calculated  again.  The  danger  is  that  the  time- 
keeper, deeply  interested  in  the  match,  may  forget 
to  start  or  stop  his  stop-watch  at  the  right  moment. 
The  time-keeper  generally  combines  the  superin- 
tendence of  the  score.  This,  however,  is  made 
easy  by  the  scoring-board  and  clock-face.  The  work 
of  the  scorer  has  been  rendered  more  easy  by  the 
men  who  are  placed  at  each  goal  to  signal  the  passing 
of  the  ball  between  the  goal-posts  by  waving  a  flag. 

This  is  one  of  the  many  improvements  in  detail 
which  we  owe  to  the  Ranelagh  Club. 

Number  of  Players, 

8.  The  number  of  players  contending  is  limited  to  four 
a-side  in  all  games  and  matches. 


:^26        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

The  reduction  of  the  number  of  players  to  four 
a-side  was,  I  believe,  due  to  Mr.  John  Watson,  and 
I  think  he  saw  the  advantage  of  this  when  playing 
in  India. 

On  page  40  will  be  found  an  account  of  the  first 
and  last  championship  that  was  played  with  five  a- 
side.  The  fifth  man  on  either  side  was  a  goal- 
keeper pure  and  simple,  and  had  little  to  do  with 
the  game  until  the  enemy  were  pressing  on  his 
goal.  Ten  men  overcrowded  the  ground,  and  it 
was  only  the  skill  of  the  early  players  and  the  absence 
of  combination  that  enabled  the  games  to  be  as  good 
as  they  were.  On  the  other  hand  games  of  three  a- 
side  are  interesting  and  exciting,  and  not  bad  practice 
for  forward  players,  but  there  is  practically  no  defence, 
and  there  could  of  course  be  no  offside. 

This  rule,  simple  though  it  looks,  is  really  the 
foundation  of  modern  polo,  and  has  made  possible 
the  game  of  skill  and  combination  we  now  know  by 
that  name. 

The  addition  to  the  original  rule  of  the  words 
"  all  games  "  as  well  as  matches,  seems  to  point  to  a 
desire  on  the  part  of  the  committee  to  forbid  or,  at 
least,  discourage  three  a-side  games  at  any  time. 
Indeed  there  is  some  reason  in  this,  since  such  a 
game  cannot  be  played  in  accordance  with  strict 
Hurlingham  rules  at  all.  At  any  rate  we  may  take 
the  day  when  the  fifth  man  disappeared  from  our 
polo  grounds  as  the  birthday  of  the  modern  game, 
and  the  passing  of  this  rule  of  four  players  a-side 
was  the  beginning  of  the  faster  pace,  the  closer  com- 


RULES  OF  POLO  IN  ENGLAND     337 

bination,  the  more  scientific  tactics  that  make  a 
first-class  polo  match  so  interesting  alike  to  players 
and  spectators. 

How  the  Game  Commences. 

9.  The  game  commences  by  both  sides  taking  up  their 
position  in  the  middle  of  the  ground,  and  the  umpire 
throwing  the  ball  into  the  centre  of  the  ground  between 
the  opposing  ranks  of  players. 

There  have  been  three  ways  of  beginning  a  game 
of  polo.  The  first  and  most  ancient  was  to  place  the 
ball  on  a  given  spot  in  the  centre  of  the  ground. 
Then  the  two  sides  at  a  signal  started  full  speed  for 
the  ball.  I  can  remember  this  being  the  custom  in 
India — at  all  events  in  Scinde,  where  I  had  my  first 
experience  of  polo.  After  a  time — and  this  was  the 
usual  plan  almost  up  to  the  time  I  left  India — the 
ball  was  placed  on  the  ground  in  the  centre.  Two 
players  rode  up,  crossed  sticks  in  the  air,  and  then 
there  was  a  scramble  for  the  ball. 

The  present  way  of  starting  the  game  is  for  the 
players  to  be  ranged  in  the  middle  of  the  ground,  and 
the  umpire,  mounted,  bowls  the  ball  between  them. 
This  should  be  done  underhanded,  the  pony  being 
moved  forward  a  step  as  it  is  done,  and  it  will  be 
found  that,  with  a  little  care,  it  is  quite  easy  to  avoid 
allowing  any  one  to  snatch  the  ball.  At  least  the 
chance  for  each  side  is  equal. 

Duration  of  Play, 

10.  The  duration  of  play  in  a  match  shall  be  one  hour, 
divided   into   six    periods  of  ten    minutes    each,    with   an 


338        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

interval  of  three  minutes  after  each  period  except  the  third 
(half-time),  when  the  interval  shall  be  five  minutes. 

Excess  Time. 

The  five  first  periods  of  play  shall  terminate  as  soon  as 
the  ball  goes  out  of  play  after  the  expiration  of  the  pre- 
scribed time  ;  any  excess  of  time  in  any  of  these  periods, 
due  to  the  ball  remaining  in  play,  being  deducted  from  the 
succeeding  period. 

Last  Period, 

The  last  period  shall  terminate,  although  the  ball  is  still 
in  play,  at  the  first  stroke  of  the  final  bell,  wherever  the 
ball  may  be. 

Exception. 

In  case  of  a  tie,  the  last  period  shall  be  prolonged  till  the 
ball  goes  out  of  play,  and,  if  still  a  tie  after  an  interval  of  five 
minutes,  the  ball  shall  be  started  from  where  it  went  out  of 
play  and  the  game  continued  in  periods  of  ten  minutes, 
with  the  usual  intervals,  until  one  side  obtain  a  goal,  which 
shall  determine  the  match. 

Bell. 

11.  The  bell  shall  be  rung  to  signify  to  the  players  that 
the  ten  minutes  has  expired,  and  it  shall  be  rung  again 
when  the  ball  next  goes  out  of  play,  to  indicate  the  time 
for  changing  ponies. 

Changing  Ponies. 

12.  With  the  exception  of  the  intervals  allowed  in 
Rule  10,  play  shall  be  continuous  :  any  change  of  ponies, 
except  according  to  the  above  provisions,  shall  be  at  the 
risk  of  the  player. 


RULES  OF  POLO  IN  ENGLAND     339 

The  period  of  actual  play  at  polo,  known  in  India 
as  a  "  chukker,"  has  altered  considerably.     In  the 
members'  games  in  India   there  was    originally  no 
particular  time.     The  game  was  limited  by  the  en- 
durance of  the  ponies.     In  matches  and  tournaments 
a  quarter  of  an  hour  was  the  usual  time,  and  there 
was  no  particular  time  laid  down  for  the  intervals. 
In  England  the  periods  were  actually  at  first,  and 
nominally  for  some  time,  twenty  minutes  with  periods 
of  rest,  generally  of  five  minutes  between  each  twenty. 
The  close  of  the  twenty  minutes  was  a  time  of  rest 
for  the  men,  but  ponies  were  changed  whenever  it 
was  convenient  to  the  riders.     It  was  all  very  friendly 
and  pleasant.     Some  one  would  feel  that  his  pony 
had  had  enough.     This  player  would  gallop  oiF,  and 
the  others  obligingly  stopped.     There  was  no  rule 
about  changing,  or  at  least  none  that  was  enforced. 
After  one  man  had  gone,  another  one  would  think, 
"  Oh,  well,  I  might  as  well  change  too,"  and  off  he 
would  go.     Thus  the  delays  and  irregularities  were 
endless,  but  there  was  no  one  to  please  but  the  players 
themselves.     Polo    had    no   public    in    those   days. 
Directly  public  opinion,  represented  in  those  days 
by  Mr.  Moray  Brown,  came  to  bear  upon  the  game, 
it  was  seen  that  these  irregular  proceedings  would 
not   do.     The   ten -minutes    rule   was    the    result. 
Nominally  the  periods  were  still  twenty  minutes,  but 
the  game  was  stopped  at  the  end  of  each  ten  minutes 
in    order    that   players  might  change  their   ponies. 
The  increasing  speed  of  polo  and  the  advancing  skill 
of  the  players  made  ten  minutes  as  much  as,  and 


340        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

perhaps  more  than,  any  pony  or  man  could  do  his 
best  for.  This  rule  met  with  a  good  deal  of  opposi- 
tion at  the  time  from  some  leading  players.  But  it 
was  strongly  advocated  by  others  and  warmly  sup- 
ported in  B ally's  Magazine ^  wherein  I  was  allowed  to 
advocate  this  and  some  other  reforms  which  have 
since  come  to  pass.  Next  to  the  establishment  of 
14.2  as  the  standard  height  of  a  polo  pony,  this  was 
in  its  effect  on  the  game  one  of  the  greatest  and  most 
beneficial  changes  that  have  ever  been  made  in  the 
rules.  The  present  rule  acknowledges  formally  a 
change  that  had  long  ago  been  effected  in  reality. 
Polo  periods  are  henceforward  ten  and  not  twenty 
minutes. 

I  look  upon  this  change  as  only  a  step  to  the  reduc- 
tion, which  I  believe  necessary  and  inevitable,  of  the 
periods  to  f\Yt  minutes,  and  the  total  time  occupied 
by  the  match  to  forty  minutes  instead  of  an  hour. 
Already  this  has  been  done  in  India,  and  what  the 
Indian  Polo  Association  does  to-day  the  Hurlingham 
Polo  Committee  is  apt  to  do  to-morrow. 

These  rules  depend  on  Rule  7,  in  some  measure, 
since  the  benefits  of  the  rule  and  the  equal  bearing 
on  the  fortunes  of  both  sides  depends  on  the  accuracy 
of  the  time-keeper. 

The  only  safe  time  for  a  man  to  change  a  pony  is 
when  the  bell  rings,  or  if,  during  an  accident,  the 
umpires  stop  the  game  and  allow  time.  There  are, 
of  course,  other  occasions  when  it  may  be  worth  the 
risk  to  change,  such  as  finding  a  pony  is  not  going 
weU.     Even  the  best  of  ponies  do  not  always  play 


RULES  OF  POLO  IN  ENGLAND     341 

alike.  Polo  is  a  game  at  which  we  must  take  risks 
sometimes,  and  we  may  calculate  which  is  the  greater, 
to  continue  to  ride  an  unsuitable  pony  or  to  gallop 
off  to  find  another. 

Of  course,  no  consideration  would  induce  a 
player  to  continue  to  ride  a  pony  which  is  for  any 
reason  obviously  unfit  to  continue  to  play. 

There  is  an  increasing  tendency  to  ride  but  few 
ponies,  often  not  more  than  three,  or  at  most  four 
being  used,  by  each  player  in  first-class  matches  and 
close  games.  A  pony  in  condition  can  play  three 
tens  easily  enough  with  intervals  of  rest  of  the  same 
length.  Most  players,  however,  have  a  fourth  pony 
to  which  they  give  a  turn  once  in  the  game.  But 
even  in  first-class  polo  it  is  a  fortunate  man  who 
possesses  more  than  two  or  three  ponies  on  each  of 
which  he  can  play  in  his  best  form. 

Bail  Hit  Behind  by  Attacking  Side, 

13.  If  the  ball  be  hit  behind  the  back  line  by  one  of  the 
opposite  side,  it  shall  be  hit  off  without  delay  from  where 
it  crossed  the  line,^  after  giving  the  opposing  side  reasonable 
time  to  get  to  the  30  yds.  line.  None  of  the  attacking  side 
shall  be  within  30  yds.  of  the  back  line  when  the  ball  is  hit 
off.      (Penalty  5.) 

Unnecessary  Delay, 

N.B. — There  must  be  no  unnecessary  delay.    (Penalty  6.) 

This  rule  has  been  separated  from  the  following 
one  which  was  originally  a  part  of  Rule  13.  The 
two  important  points  are  that — (a)  the  ball  shall  be 

1  "  But  at  least  12  feet  from  the  goal-post."     These  words  are  now  inserted, 
and  qualify  the  preceding  provision  "from  where  it  crossed  the  line," 


342        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

brought  into  play  as  soon  as  possible, — {b)  and 
the  attacking  side  shall  not  be  within  30  yards 
of  the  goal.  The  disposition  of  the  sides  is  left 
entirely  to  the  discretion  of  the  respective  captains, 
and  it  is  open  to  any  one  of  the  defending  side  to 
hit  out.  This  duty  is,  however,  in  practice  always 
entrusted  to  No.  3  or  No.  4,  and  in  most  cases 
it  is  No.  3  who  hits  out.  No.  4  backs  him  up,  and 
the  forwards  do  their  best  to  clear  the  way.  It  is 
a  notable  feature  of  modern  polo  that  the  defending 
side  more  often  than  not  drive  the  ball  away. 

Ball  Hit  Behind  by  Defending  Side. 

14.  If  the  ball  be  hit  behind  the  back  line  by  one  of 
the  defending  side,  penalty  4  shall  be  exacted,  provided  the 
ball  does  not  glance  off  another  player  or  another  pony. 
(Penalty  4.) 

There  was  a  time  when  no  penalty  at  all  was 
attached  to  this.  It  was  not  considered  "  good  form  " 
to  hit  the  ball  behind  your  own  back  line  in  order  to 
save  the  goal.  But  by  degrees  the  custom  of  doing 
this  crept  in,  and  on  one  occasion  at  least  the  final 
tie  of  an  important  tournament  was  won  by  the 
judicious  use  of  this  expedient.  Then  it  was  decided 
to  inflict  a  penalty.  The  side  defending  the  goal 
was  ranged  behind  the  back  line,  whilst  one  of  their 
number  hit  out  from  the  centre  of  the  goal-post, 
the  attacking  side  being  ranged  outside  a  white 
line  defining  a  semicircle  25  yards  from  the  centre 
of  the  goal-posts.  Hitting  out  to  save  the  goal  thus 
became  an  acknowledged  part  of  polo  tactics,  since  it 


RULES  OF  POLO  IN  ENGLAND     343 

was  obviously  better  to  hit  out  from  any  point  than 
to  have  a  scrimmage  near  the  goal. 

If  the  sides  are  fairly  equal,  and  sometimes  even 
when  the  side  that  hits  out  is  the  weaker  of  the  two, 
there  is  a  good  chance  of  carrying  the  ball  away  from 
the  hit  out.  The  hit  out  from  the  centre  of  the 
goal-posts  is  no  disadvantage,  or  at  all  events  not  so 
great  a  one  as  to  deter  players  from  saving  their  goal 
from  danger  by  hitting  behind. 

The  infliction  of  penalty  No.  4  shows  a  clear  inten- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  polo  committee  to  discourage 
"  hitting  behind  to  save  your  goal."  Penalty  4,  "  a 
free  '  hit  at '  the  ball  from  a  spot  opposite  where 
the  baU  was  hit  behind,  and  60  yards  distant  from 
the  goal  line  produced,  none  of  the  side  fouling  to  be 
within  20  yards  of  the  ball.  The  side  fouled  being 
free  to  place  themselves  where  they  choose." 

This  is  a  very  severe  penalty,  and  it  defines  the 
action  penalised  as  a  "foul."  At  the  same  time, 
and  for  this  very  reason,  we  must  regard  the  rule  as 
well  thought  out,  since  it  places  the  goal  in  danger 
but  does  not  make  an  addition  to  the  score  at  all  a 
certainty.  As  a  matter  of  tactics  it  will  still  be  worth 
considering  how  far  it  is  safe  to  run  the  risk  of 
incurring  the  penalty.  We  can  all  imagine  occasions 
when  it  will  be  well  worth  while  to  do  so. 

Ba/I  thrown  in  by  the  Umpire. 

15.  When  the  ball  is  hit  out,  it  must  be  thrown  into  the 
ground  by  the  umpire  from  the  exact  spot  where  it  went 
out,  in  a  direction  parallel  to  the  two  goal-lines,  and  between 


344        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

the  opposing  ranks  of  players.     There   must   be  no  delay- 
whatsoever  or  any  consideration  for  absent  players. 

The  ball  should  be  bowled  underhand  in  the  same 
fashion  as  when  starting  the  game.  The  last  clause 
is  intended  to  prevent  the  practice  springing  up  of 
going  off  to  change  ponies  when  the  ball  goes  out. 
A  polo  match  ought  to  occupy  an  hour  and  a  half, 
and  it  is  desirable  in  the  interests  of  the  game 
that,  except  under  especial  circumstances,  this  time 
should  never  be  exceeded. 

Ball  Out. 

1 6.  The  ball  must  go  over  and  clear  of  the  boundary 
line  to  be  out. 

Goals, 

17.  A  goal  is  gained  when  a  ball  passes  between  the 
goal-posts,  and  over  the  goal-line.  If  the  ball  is  hit  above 
the  top  of  the  goal-posts,  but  in  the  opinion  of  the  umpire, 
between  those  posts  produced,  it  shall  be  deemed  a  goal. 

See  Indian  Rules,  p.  383,  Rule  12, — the  last  clause 
of  which  would  clearly  be  an  improvement  here. 

To  win  Game, 

18.  The  side  that  makes  most  goals  wins  the  game. 

Ends  changed, 

19.  Ends  shall  be  changed  after  every  goal,  or  if  no  goal 
have  been  obtained,  after  the  third  period. 

Of  Rules  16,  17,  18,  19,  no  explanations  or 
remarks  are  needed. 


-;^--^ 


^ 


A  in  possession  hits  to  X,  H  and  C  race  for  the  ball;  if  C  ride  B  oft  in  such  a 
manner  that  A  has  to  check  his  pony,  a  foul  would  be  given  against  C. 


A 


A  hits  the  ball  to  X,  B  and  C  ride  for  it ;  if  C  rides  to  E  in  order  to  hit  the  ball  on 
the  of}- side,  at  the  pace  they  are  going  B  will  have  to  check  his  pony  and  a  cross  will 
be  the  result  (Penalty  i),  but  if  he  rides  to  F  he  can  take  a  near-side  backhander 
even  though  B,  as  coming  from  the  direction  of  the  ball,  is  in  possession.  Secondly, 
suppose  that  B  on  a  very  fast  pony  reaches  X  as  soon  as  C,  nevertheless  C  may  ride 
hini  off  the  ball  if  he  takes  the  course  to  F. 

EXAMPLES    TO    ILLUSTRATE   RULE   20.  Page  345. 

A 


V--- :,vc 


Soarc/s 


A  hits  the  ball  to  the  boards  at  Y ;  it  cannons  off  to  X ;  A  goes  the  shortest  way ;  B 
coming  along  the  boards  follows  the  course  of  the  ball;  B  is  in  possession  and  must 
be  given  way  to. 

EXAMPLE   TO   ILLUSTRATE   RULE   20,   Session  4. 


RULES  OF  POLO  IN  ENGLAND     345 

Riding  out  an  Antagonist,      Crossing. 

20.  A  player  may  ride  out  an  antagonist,  or  interpose 
his  pony  before  his  antagonist,  so  as  to  prevent  the  latter 
reaching  the  ball,  but  he  may  not  cross  another  player 
in  possession  of  the  ball  except  at  such  a  distance  that 
the  said  player  shall  not  be  compelled  to  check  his  pony 
to  avoid  a  collision.     (Penalty  i.) 

Definition  of  Crossing. 

If  two  players  are  riding  from  different  directions  to  hit 
the  ball,  and  a  collision  appears  probable,  then  the  player 
in  possession  of  the  ball  (that  is,  w^ho  last  hit  the  ball,  or  if 
neither  have  hit  the  ball,  the  player  who  is  coming  from  the 
direction  from  which  the  ball  was  last  hit)  must  be  given 
way  to.     (Penalty  i.) 

Exact  line  of  the  Ball. 

I.  Any  player  who  follows  the  exact  line  of  the  ball 
from  the  direction  from  which  it  has  been  last  hit,  is  in 
possession  of  the  ball  rather  than  any  player  coming  from 
any  other  direction. 

Last  Striker, 

The  last  striker  is  in  possession  provided  that  no  other 
player  can,  without  causing  the  striker  to  check  his  pony 
to  avoid  a  collision,  get  on  the  line  of  the  ball  in  front  of 
him.  Under  these  circumstances  the  last  striker  may  not 
ride  into  the  adversary  from  behind,  but  must  if  necessary 
take  the  ball  on  the  near  side  of  his  own  pony. 

Last  Striker. 

No  player  shall  be  deemed  to  be  in  possession  of  the  ball 
by  reason  of  his  being  the  last  striker  if  he  shall  have 
deviated  from  pursuing  the  exact  course  of  the  ball. 


346        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Riding  to  meet  the  Ball, 

2.  Any  player  who  rides  to  meet  the  ball  on  the  exact 
line  of  its  course  is  in  possession  rather  than  any  other 
player  riding  at  an  angle  from  any  direction. 

Riding  at  an  Angle, 

3.  Any  player  riding  from  the  direction  from  which 
the  ball  has  last  been  hit,  at  an  angle  to  its  course,  has 
possession  rather  than  any  player  riding  at  an  angle  in  the 
opposite  direction. 

Riding  in  Same  Direction, 

4.  If  two  players  are  riding  from  the  same  direction, 
that  player  is  in  possession  whose  course  is  at  the  smallest 
angle  to  the  line  of  the  ball. 

Left-handed  Players, 

5.  If  two  players  are  riding  from  opposite  directions  to 
hit  the  ball,  one  of  these  being  a  left-handed  player,  the 
latter  must  give  way. 

N,B, — The  line  of  the  ball  is  the  line  of  its  course  or  that 
line  produced  at  the  moment  any  question  arises. 

This  rule  deals  with  important  points  relative  to 
the  safety  of  the  player  and  the  fairness  of  the  play. 
Players  we  know  are  often  not  well  acquainted  with 
the  rules,  but  every  one  is  bound  to  read  over  and 
to  consider  this  rule  and  its  various  clauses  in  their 
bearing  on  his  own  conduct  in  the  game.  Rules 
must  necessarily  leave  a  great  deal  to  the  good  feel- 
ing of  players,  and  where  that  is  not  sufficient  the 


RULES  OF  POLO  IN  ENGLAND     347 

umpire  must  step  in.  While  granting  that,  in  the 
excitement  of  the  game,  some  players  are  reckless  and 
unscrupulous,  there  is  a  tendency  in  the  opposite 
direction  which  is  to  be  deprecated.  It  is  natural  for 
men  as  they  improve  in  skill  and  diminish  in  activity 
with  age  to  advocate  a  less  rough  style  of  play. 
Moreover,  the  opinion  of  backs  as  to  what  constitutes 
roughness  is  sure  to  differ  from  that  of  young 
forward  players.  The  Committee  take  the  course  of 
simply  forbidding  a  few  actions  that  are  unfair  or 
dangerous.  Thus  we  see  that  players  are  left  free 
to  interpret  the  riding-out  rule  for  themselves  so 
long  as  they  do  not  cross.  It  must,  of  course,  be 
understood  that  all  rules  bearing  on  crossing  and  the 
possession  of  the  ball  only  apply  when  the  players 
are  galloping.  Fouls  may  be  divided  into  two 
classes,  {a)  those  that  arise  from  improper  riding  of 
the  pony,  (J?)  those  that  arise  from  improper  use  of 
the  stick.  Those  in  (a)  class  can  only  take  place  at 
a  gallop.  There  can  be  no  crossing  except  it  is 
necessary  to  check  the  pony  to  avoid  a  collision,  and 
that  implies  a  certain  amount  of  speed  in  the  first 
instance. 

As  to  riding  out,  there  are  two  opinions  about  the 
way  this  should  be  done.  In  India  and  in  New 
Zealand  the  rule^  is  that  the  ponies  must  be  gallop- 
ing alongside  one  another  before  riding  out  is  per- 
mitted. In  England  there  is  nothing  in  the  rules 
to  prevent  players  bumping  into  one  another  at  a 
considerable  angle.     In  fact  we  have  before  now  seen 

1  Vide  Indian  Rules,  No.  30,  p.  394. 


348        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

a  player  knocked  clean  over  the  boards.  I  think 
the  English  practice,  though  interesting  to  the 
spectators,  should  be  forbidden  because — 

1.  It  is  dangerous  to  men  and  ponies.  A  pony- 
was  killed  by  a  severe  bump  in  1904. 

2.  It  spoils  the  pony. 

3.  It  gives  too  great  an  advantage  to  big  ponies 
and  tends  to  exclude  from  polo  a  large  number  of 
useful  animals. 

4.  By  favouring  big  ponies  as  against  the  smaller 
it  makes  polo  more  costly. 

I  know  a  player  who  preferred  ponies  of  what 
we  may  call  medium  size,  about  14.1,  and  of  the 
light  active  sort.  He  tells  me  that  now  he  buys 
ponies  as  big  as  possible,  as  he  found  the  others  were 
unable  to  stand  the  bumping. 

The  more  necessary  big  ponies  become,  the  more 
difficult  and  expensive  will  it  be  to  mount  oneself  at 
polo.     The  field  of  choice  is  by  so  much  narrowed. 

From  riding  off  we  come  to  crossing.  The  most 
frequent  occasion  of  crossing  is  when  one  player  is 
nearing  the  goal,  and  another  on  a  faster  pony  is  racing 
him  and  approaching  at  an  angle.  The  ball  must  be 
diverted  from  its  course  or  a  goal  is  a  certainty.  The 
man  approaching  decides  (quite  wrongly)  to  take  the 
risk,  and  either  gallops  across  the  front  of  the  man 
in  possession  of  the  ball  or  interposes  between  him 
and  the  goal  line.  If  in  either  case  he  causes  the 
latter  to  check  his  pony,  a  cross  is,  or  ought  to  be 
given  against  the  man  who  intervenes.  The  cross 
is  the  most  dangerous  form  of  foul  and  the  most 


RULES  OF  POLO  IN  ENGLAND 


349 


frequent.  The  temptation  to  risk  it  is  importunate 
at  critical  moments.  Moreover,  a  cross  is  very  often 
unconscious,  the  player's  one  thought  is  the  goal,  he 
forgets  all  about  his  relative  position  to  the  man 
behind  him,  so  intent  is  he  on  the  pursuit  of  the  ball 
and  the  safety  of  his  goal.  But  the  penalties  are 
severe,  and  in  the  revised  code  are  more  stringent 
than  they  were. 

But  you  cannot  cross  a  man  unless  he  is  in  posses- 
sion of  the  ball.  Now  if  we  study  the  wording  of 
this  rule  we  shall  see  that  it  is  not  so  much  the  fact 
of  having  been  the  last  man  to  hit  the  ball,  as  to  follow 
in  the  exact  line  of  the  balFs  course  that  gives  the 
right  of  possession.  Thus  supposing  the  man  who 
has  hit  the  ball  last,  owing  to  a  rebound  from  the 
boards  or  a  bumping  ground,  leaves  the  exact  line  of 
the  ball  to  shorten  the  distance  he  has  to  pass  over 
before  his  next  stroke,  and  another  player  follows  the 
ball  making  the  same  angle  as  it  does,  the  latter 
and  not  the  former  would  be  in  possession  and 
entitled  to  be  given  way  to.  Again,  the  man  who  is 
coming  from  the  same  direction  as  the  ball,  is  given 
preference  over  the  one  who  is  trying  to  meet  it. 
But  if  both  players  are  riding  to  strike  the  ball  and 
the  one  meeting  it  is  approaching  the  ball  at  a  less 
angle  than  the  one  who  follows,  even  though  that 
player  be  the  last  striker^  the  man  who  is  meeting 
the  ball  is  entitled  to  be  given  way  to.  None  of 
these  provisions  apply  to  left-handed  players,  who 
must  always  give  way.  In  the  Indian  rules  left- 
handed  men  are  excluded  altogether  from  the  game. 


3SO        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

We  now  come  to  a  new  provision  which  lays  down 
that  the  last  striker  is  in  possession  of  the  ball  as  long 
as  he  follows  the  direct  course  of  the  ball.  It  is, 
however,  further  provided  that  if  another  player  can 
ride  on  the  line  of  the  ball  without  crossing  or  being 
convicted  of  doing  so,  the  striker  may  not  ride  into 
him  from  behind.  The  effect  of  this  is  to  deprive 
the  striker,  though  he  is  keeping  on  the  line  of  the 
ball,  of  some  of  the  privileges  of  possession,  since  the 
wording,  though  very  obscure,  seems  to  imply  that 
the  man  in  front  need  not  give  way. 

It  will  be  evident  on  consideration  that  in  practice 
this  clause  might  deprive  the  striker  of  possession,  for 
(i)  if  he  cuts  the  ball  hard  the  player  in  front  will 
probably  get  it ;  (2)  if  he  dribbles  he  may  be 
caught  from  behind.  Undoubtedly  his  best  plan,  if 
one  of  his  own  side  is  behind  him,  is  to  leave  the  ball 
for  him  and  go  right  forward  on  to  the  player  in  front. 

The  latter  is  forbidden  to  ride  into  him,  therefore 
the  former  need  not  give  way.  Henceforth  the  com- 
bination of  a  fast  pony  and  an  umpire  not  too  keen, 
will  enable  a  player  who  may  be  unable  to  hit  the 
ball  to  put  a  stop  to  a  fast  run.  The  last  clause 
appears  to  have  slipped  in  by  accident.  "  If  necessary 
the  player  must  take  the  ball  on  the  near  side  of  his 
own  pony.'*  But  under  what  circumstances  is  such 
a  course  necessary .? 

A  little  consideration  will  show  that  the  player  so 
situated  will  scarcely  ever  find  it  necessary  to  do  this, 
except  to  avoid  driving  the  ball  into  the  pony  in 
front,  though  he  might  find  it  convenient  if  he  is 


RULES  OF  POLO  IN  ENGLAND     351 

good  at  the  near -side  forward  stroke  (which  not 
one  player  in  a  hundred  is).  Most  men  would 
either  leave  the  ball  to  their  next  man  while  they 
rode  off  the  player  in  front,  or  would  hit  the  ball 
away  to  one  side  or  the  other,  and  follow  it  as  best 
they  could. 

This  raises  a  nice  point  for  the  umpire.  It  is 
evident  that  at  some  period  the  man  in  possession 
must  check  his  pony. 

When  does  it  amount  to  a  cross  ?  Again  if  the 
man  striking  and  following  the  line  of  the  ball  is  so 
near  to  the  man  in  front  that  there  is  obvious  danger 
of  his  striking  into  the  pony's  heels,  then  he  must 
practically  have  lost  possession  of  the  ball  as  soon  as 
this  happens. 

It  is  evident,  though  not  from  the  wording  of  the 
rule,  that  this  case  might  occur  either  on  the  line 
of  the  ball  or  that  line  produced.  It  seems  as  if  the 
interposing  player  might  hinder  the  striker  without 
having  much  chance  of  obtaining  possession  himself 
This  rule  may  be  justly  criticised  on  the  ground 
that  it  works  in  favour  of  back  players,  especially 
of  No.  4,  and  against  the  No.  i.  The  rules  want 
modifying  and  not  strengthening  in  this  direction. 
The  Hurlingham  Committee,  being  all  back  players, 
seem  to  have  forgotten  the  necessary  balance  of  the 
game.  The  great  decrease  in  efficient  forwards  of 
late  years  might  act  as  a  warning  that  in  a  game  of 
combination  like  polo  we  cannot  upset  the  due 
balance  of  the  backs  and  forwards  without  injuring 
the  game. 


352        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Dangerous  Riding, 

21.  No  player  shall  ride  dangerously.     (Penalty  i.) 

Dangerous  Use  of  Stick. 

22.  Noplayershall  use  hisstick  dangerously.    (Penalty  i.) 

23.  In  case  of  a  player  being  disabled  by  a  foul,  penalty 
8  may  be  exacted  by  the  side  that  has  been  fouled,  and 
penalty  i  shall  be  exacted  in  any  case.     (Penalties  i  and  8.) 

Rough  Play. 

24.  No  player  shall  seize  with  the  hand,  strike  or  push 
with  the  head,  hand,  arm,  or  elbow,  but  a  player  may  push 
with  his  arm,  above  the  elbow,  provided  the  elbow  be  kept 
close  to  his  side.     (Penalty  i  or  2  or  3.) 

Dangerous  Rough  Play. 
N.B. — Penalty   i    shall   only  be  exacted  if  the  umpire 
considers  the  play  dangerous. 

Crooking  Sticks. 

25.  No  player  shall  crook  an  adversary's  stick,  unless  he 
is  on  the  same  side  of  an  adversary's  pony  as  the  ball,  or  in  a 
direct  line  behind,  and  his  stick  is  neither  over  nor  under  the 
body  or  across  the  legs  of  an  adversary's  pony.  The  stick 
may  not  be  crooked  unless  an  adversary  is  in  the  act  of 
striking  at  the  ball. 

Striking  Across  an  Adversary's  Pony. 

When  two  players  are  riding  abreast,  no  player  shall  strike 
at  the  ball  over  or  under  the  body  or  across  the  legs  of  an 
adversary's  pony.  A  player  who  deliberately  rides  his  pony 
up  to  an  adversary  who  is  in  possession  of  and  striking  at 
the  ball,  or  who  deliberately  rides  his  pony  over  the  ball  to 
prevent  an  adversary  striking  at  it,  does  so  at  his  own  risk. 
(Penalty  2  or  3.) 


Illustrating  the  Working  of  Penalties  i  and  2. 


y)yds 


B 


-iboyds 


?■ 


B 


WW 


u 


//// 


B 


l6oyds 


2^ft     a 


Illustrating  Penalty  3,  i.e.,  the  hit  out  from  behind  after  off-side,  and  U  Bowling 
in  new  ball. 


RULES  OF  POLO  IN  ENGLAND 


353 


A  great  number  of  accidents  at  polo  are  the  result 
of  blows  with  a  stick  inflicted  on  a  player  or  his  pony 
accidentally  or  through  carelessness.  Nor  is  it 
possible  to  get  rid  of  this  danger  altogether  at  polo. 
As  long  as  men  are  armed  with  such  a  weapon  as  a 
polo  stick,  accidents  will  occur  from  time  to  time  in 
an  exciting  game  like  polo.  The  dangers  to  be 
guarded  against  are  two  ; — (i)  from  blows,  (2)  from 
the  stick  becoming  entangled  in  the  ponies'  legs 
and  thus  bringing  them  down. 

From  the  time  I  first  began  to  write  about  polo  I 
have  constantly  pointed  out  the  suitability  of  the 
Indian  rule  which  forbids  striking  out  with  the  stick 
across  a  pony's  forelegs  in  order  to  reach  the  ball. 
This  has  now  been  adopted.  The  modification  of 
the  stick-crooking  rule  which  forbids  crooking  sticks, 
except  when  the  player  is  in  the  act  of  striking  the 
ball,  is  also  borrowed  from  the  Indian  code  of  rules. 

This  change,  which  will  meet  with  general  approval 
from  players,  was  inevitable.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
it  will  make  polo  pleasanter  to  play.  Nothing  is 
more  exasperating  than  when  galloping  after  the  ball 
with  no  immediate  prospect  of  hitting  it,  to  have 
your  stick  crooked  from  behind  and  possibly 
wrenched  out  of  your  hand. 

Stick-crooking  is  not  permitted  in  America,  but 
Mr.  Foxhall  Keene  and  other  American  players 
thought  that  it  was  an  improvement  to  the  game. 

However,  the  present  rule  is  plain  enough.  For 
the  future  it  will  not  be  lawful  to  crook  an  adversary's 
stick  unless  the  stick  is  actually  raised  to  hit  the  ball. 

2  A 


354        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

This  rule  will  tend  to  prevent  waving  sticks,  and 
perhaps  there  will  be  fewer  infringements  of  the  rule 
which  forbids  crooking  over  the  pony's  back.  There 
seems  little  reason  for  an  uplifted  stick  to  be  carried 
in  the  dangerous  fashion  so  often  seen. 

All  the  rule3  about  rough  play  are  limited  by  the 
word  "  dangerous,"  i.e,  everything  is  lawful  in  a 
hustle  or  scrimmage  (whether  all  things  are  expedient 
is  another  matter)  unless  the  action  be  expressly  for- 
bidden {vide  Rule  24),  or  be  considered  by  the  umpire 
to  be  dangerous. 

It  may  be  said  that  umpires  will  have  different 
ideas  on  this  point,  but  that  is  inevitable,  and  practice 
and  custom  will  soon  spring  up,  and  the  best  players 
when  umpiring  will  set  a  standard  which  by  degrees 
will  be  accepted  as  the  interpretation  of  the  rule. 

Offside, 

26.  No  player  who  is  offside  shall  hit  the  ball,  or  shall  in 
any  way  prevent  the  opposite  side  from  reaching  or  hitting 
the  ball.     (Penalty  2  or  3.) 

Definition  of  Offside. 

A  player  is  offside  when  at  the  time  of  the  ball  being  hit 
he  has  no  one  of  the  opposite  side  nearer  the  adversaries'  goal- 
line,  or  that  line  produced,  or  behind  that  line,  and  he  is 
neither  in  possession  of  the  ball  nor  behind  one  of  his  own 
side  who  is  in  possession  of  the  ball.  The  goal-line  means 
the  eight-yard  line  between  the  goal-posts.  A  player,  if  off- 
side, remains  offside  until  the  ball  is  hit,  or  hit  at  again. 

There  is  no  rule  that  has  been  more  discussed 
than  this.     There  is  no  offside  in  the  game  as  played 


RULES  OF  POLO  IN  ENGLAND     ^SS 

in  Manipur  or  Gilgit  to-day.  The  American  game 
has  it  not,  and  so  far  we  have  not  convinced  American 
players  of  the  necessity  of  the  rule.  In  India,  on  the 
contrary,  players,  both  native  and  English,  hold 
strongly  to  offside.  But  our  own  Polo  Committee 
has  not  been  very  strong  on  the  subject,  for  they 
have  dallied  with  the  alteration  or  even  the  abolition 
of  the  rule.  No  one,  I  think,  had  any  doubts  about 
the  expediency  of  the  rule  until  Mr.  T.  B.  Drybrough, 
in  his  excellent  analysis  of  the  rules  of  polo,  drew 
attention  to  the  discrepancies  in  the  decisions  of 
umpires  on  this  point. 

But  no  one  doubts  that  in  practice  the  decisions 
of  umpires  on  the  question  of  offside  are  very 
haphazard. 

Putting  aside  a  few  of  our  best  umpires,  such  as 
Mr.  Rawlinson,  Captain  Gordon  Renton,  and  Mr. 
T.  B.  Drybrough,  the  others  for  the  most  part  either 
seldom  give  offside  at  all,  or  nearly  always  assent  to 
a  claim  for  it.  If  the  reader  will  study  the  accom- 
panying diagram,  and  will  apply  it  to  his  experi- 
ence of  watching  races,  or  possibly  of  judging,  he 
will  know  how  impossible  it  is  to  see  which  of  the 
two  horses  has  his  head  in  front  of  the  other  at  any 
given  moment,  unless  we  are  quite  parallel  with  them. 
Now  this  is  a  position  which  the  best  of  umpires  can 
seldom  occupy.  In  theory  the  umpires  should  be 
two  in  number  riding  perfectly  trained  ponies,  and 
galloping  parallel  to  the  "  back  "  of  each  side.  In 
practice  there  is  often  only  one,  and  he  must  do  the 
best  he  can.     Moreover,  an  umpire's  attention  must 


356        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

be  fixed  partly  on  the  important  duty  of  keeping  out 
of  the  way  of  the  players.  In  doing  this  he  cannot 
always  be  in  the  most  favourable  position  for  observ- 
ing what  is  going  on.  In  reading  the  rules  and 
studying  them  at  our  leisure,  it  must  be  remembered 
that  polo  is  a  game  of  rapid  happenings  and  quick 
changes.  Probably  the  umpires  never  actually  see 
half  the  fouls  and  offsides  that  occur.  Moved  by 
these  and  other  considerations,  and  also  because  polo 
is  apt  to  become  sticky  when  the  zeal  of  a  side  for 
combined  play  is  in  advance  of  their  skill  in  hitting 
the  ball,  the  Polo  Committee  had  doubts  about 
offside.  The  open  galloping  game  of  the  Americans 
was  attractive.  Probably  it  is  better  fun  for  all 
except  the  first-class  players.  The  existing  rule  was, 
and  is  capable  of  several  inconsistent  explanations. 
A  few  games  were  played  without  "offside,"  but 
these  trials  were  not  very  conclusive,  and,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  several  people  had  made  up  their  minds  on 
the  subject  before  the  trial  matches  were  played  at  all. 
It  was  said  that  the  game  without  offside  was  hard 
upon  the  ponies.  It  was  understood  that  Indian 
polo  players  were  certainly  against  a  change  in  this 
rule.     It  was  then  suggested — 

1.  That  offside  should  be  more  clearly  defined, 
e.g,  that  the  umpire  must  see  the  boot  of  the  offender 
or  the  whole  of  the  pony. 

2.  Instructions  should  be  issued  to  the  umpire 
as  to  the  granting  of  offsides  when  claimed. 

3.  That  (a)  the  penalties  should  be  modified  as 
being  too  severe,  except  in  those  cases  which  arise 


RULES  OF  POLO  IN  ENGLAND      357 

when  a  player  chances  being  offside  for  the  sake  of 
the  advantage  to  be  obtained.  Though  scarcely  justi- 
fiable, yet  in  the  heat  of  the  game  forward  players 
will  do  such  things. 

However,  the  rule  was  left  as  it  was,  but  it  must 
I  think  be  dealt  with  some  day.  Probably  the  best 
plan  would  be  : — 

1.  To  define  what  the  umpire  must  see  to 
constitute  offside. 

2.  To  modify  the  definition  in  the  case  of  an 
offside  which  is  occasioned  by  the  action  of  No.  3. 

There  might  be  some  difference  between,  as 
in  the  Indian  Rule  No.  27,  the  penalty  for  "off- 
side ''  when  the  result  of  reckless  play  on  the  part  of 
the  forward,  and  offside  when  brought  about  by  the 
tactics  of  No.  4.  This  player  can,  by  checking  his 
pony,  often  put  No.  i  offside  without  any  real  fault 
on  the  part  of  the  latter.  The  offside  rule  is  already 
a  sufficient  advantage  to  the  back,  and  it  is  inadvis- 
able to  strengthen  in  any  way  the  defence,  which  is 
already  so  strong  that  it  makes  the  game  "  sticky  *' 
at  times.  It  is  in  the  closer  definition  of  offside,  or 
the  relaxation  of  the  penalties  in  the  sense  that  I  have 
suggested,  that  we  are  to  look  for  the  necessary  im- 
provement in  the  game.  But  I  look  forward  still 
more  to  the  growth  of  soldiers'  polo  to  infuse  into 
the  game  the  dash  and  forward  play  that  it  requires. 

27.  A  player  must  not  carry  the  ball. 

In  the  event  of  a  ball  lodging  upon  or  against  a 


358        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

player  or  pony,  it  must  be  dropped  immediately  on 
the  ground. 

That  is,  a  ball  cannot  under  any  circumstances  be 
carried  through  the  goal.  There  is  a  case  in  exist- 
ence of  the  ball  lodging  under  a  pony's  tail  and  being 
carried  through  the  posts.  But  I  should  suppose  that 
whether  there  was  time  to  drop  the  ball  or  not  no 
umpire  would  allow  the  goal. 

Striking  Pony  with  Head  of  Polo  Stick. 

28.  No  player  shall  intentionally  strike  his  pony  with 
the  head  of  his  polo  stick.     (Penalty  2  or  3.) 

It  seems  a  pity  that  the  striking  of  a  pony  with 
any  part  of  the  polo  stick  is  not  forbidden.  It  is 
seldom  or  never  done  by  the  best  players,  and  has 
a  bad  appearance.  Were  the  practice  to  become 
common  it  would  tend  to  bring  the  game  into  dis- 
credit, and  this  is  sufficient  reason  for  forbidding  a 
practice  which  is  bad  for  the  player  and  his  pony  and 
disapproved  of  by  public  opinion. 

Broken  Sticks. 

29.  Should  a  player's  stick  be  broken,  he  must  borrow 
one  from  one  of  his  own  side,  or  ride  to  the  place  where 
sticks  are  kept  and  take  one.  In  the  event  of  a  stick  being 
dropped,  he  must  either  pick  it  up  himself,  borrow  one  from 
one  of  his  own  side,  or  ride  to  the  place  where  sticks  are 
kept  and  take  one.  On  no  account  may  a  stick  be  brought 
on  to  the  ground.     (Penalty  2  or  3.) 

There  is  no  rule  more  constantly  broken  than  this. 


RULES  OF  POLO  IN  ENGLAND     359 

There  is  none  that  ought  to  be  enforced  more  strictly. 
To  see  attendants  or  friends  running  about  the  ground 
with  sticks  is  unseemly  and  dangerous.  It  is  more- 
over unfair,  for  it  certainly  upsets  the  aim  of  players. 
The  old  rule,  in  which  the  words  from  "  borrow 
one "  to  "  take  one "  did  not  occur,  seems  to  me 
better  than  as  it  now  stands,  but  this  permission 
given  to  borrow  a  stick  is  seldom  made  use  of 

Dismounted  Player. 

30.  No  dismounted  player  is  allowed  to  hit  the  ball  or 
interfere  in  the  game.     (Penalty  2  or  3.) 

I  have  never  seen  this  rule  broken  nor  any  desire 
shown  to  join  in  the  game  by  dismounted  players. 

Throwing  in  Ball, 

31.  If  the  ball  be  damaged,  the  umpire  shall  at  his 
discretion  stop  the  game,  and  throw  in  a  new  ball  at  the 
place  where  it  was  broken,  towards  the  nearest  side  of  the 
ground,  in  a  direction  parallel  to  the  two  goal-lines,  and 
between  the  opposing  ranks  of  players. 

N.B. — It  is  desirable  that  the  game  shall  be  stopped  and 
the  ball  changed  when  the  damaged  ball  is  in  such  a  position 
that  neither  side  is  favoured  thereby. 

Umpires  should  pay  careful  attention  to  the 
enforcement  of  the  note  to  this  rule.  If  a  player  is* 
making  a  run  and  the  ball  breaks,  as  it  often  does,  it 
should  be  left  to  the  player  to  decide  whether  he  will 
go  on  with  the  broken  ball  or  have  a  new  one.  Any 
cries  of  "  broken  ball  "  from  the  opposite  side  should 
be  disregarded. 


36o        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRFSENT 

This  is  one  of  those  accideats  the  disadvantages  of 
which  are  part  of  the  nature  of  things,  so  long  as  we 
have  to  play  with  brittle  wooden  balls.  Many  com- 
positions have  been  tried,  but  nothing  has  ever  come 
near  to  the  spring  and  lightness  of  the  willow-root 
ball.  All  others  that  I  have  seen  are  dead  in  com- 
parison. The  ball  in  use  has  only  one  superior, 
the  bamboo-root  ball  of  India,  which  is  probably  the 
best  polo  ball  in  existence. 

Absent  Player. 

32.  If  a  player  leaves  the  game  in  order  to  change  a  pony, 
or  to  get  a  fresh  stick,  or  for  any  other  purpose,  the  penalty 
for  offside  cannot  be  exacted  against  the  opposing  side 
until  the  return  of  the  player  into  the  game. 

This  is  a  new  rule  and  should  work  well  as  a 
discouragement  to  changing  ponies  at  odd  moments. 
It  is  obvious  justice  to  the  side  with  four  against 
three.  The  wording,  however,  is  not  very  clear. 
What  is  the  game  ?  Is  a  man  "  in  the  game " 
when  he  is  on  the  ground  .''  e.g,  a  player  leaves  the 
ground,  then  No.  i  cannot  be  offside.  Does  he 
become  so  provided  he  is  in  an  offside  position  the 
moment  the  absent  player  recrosses  the  boundary, 
even  though  the  actual  play  may  be  going  on  two 
hundred  yards  away  from  the  spot  where  the  return- 
ing player  is  ?  This  actually  happened  in  an  im- 
portant match  in  1904.     It  needs  to  be  provided  for. 

33.  No  person  allowed  within  the  arena — players,  umpires, 
referee,  and  manager  excepted. 


RULES  OF  POLO  IN  ENGLAND     361 

This  is  not  always  as  strictly  observed  as  it  might 
be.  Every  one  will  recollect  in  an  exciting  match  at 
the  Inter-Regimental  how  the  crowd  of  soldiers,  past 
and  present,  flowed  over  the  boards  on  to  the  ground 
and  half  across  it,  to  fly  nimbly  as  the  rush  of  the  game 
brought  the  players  down  the  boards  under  the 
pavilion.  One  often  wonders  that  no  one  was  hurt, 
or  that  the  players  never  complained  ;  possibly  they 
sympathised  with  the  enthusiasm  of  the  spectators. 
But,  though  one  may  look  leniently  on  the  excess  of 
keenness,  the  danger  of  the  practice  and  its  unfairness 
to  players  are  obvious. 

Occidents, 

34.  [a)  If  a  player  or  a  pony  be  injured  by  a  fall  or  any 
other  accident,  the  umpire  shall  stop  the  game,  and  allow 
time  for  the  injured  man  or  pony  to  be  replaced. 

{b)  If  a  player  or  a  pony  falls  through  that  player  or 
that  pony's  fault,  the  umpire  shall  not  stop  the  game,  unless 
he  is  satisfied  that  the  player  or  pony  is  hurt. 

Where  Ball  thrown  in, 

N.B. — On  play  being  resumed,  the  ball  shall  be  thrown 
in  where  it  was  when  the  game  was  stopped,  and  in  the 
manner  provided  for  in  Rule  15. 

The  only  point  to  be  noted  here  is  that  the  umpire 
should  be  careful  to  tell  the  timekeeper  that  time  is 
taken  off,  and  that  the  latter  should  be  careful  to  see 
this  is  done  accurately. 

Spurs  and  Blinkers, 

35.  No  blinkers,  or  spurs  with  rowels  are  allowed  ;  no 
pony  blind  of  an  eye  is  allowed  to  play. 


362        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

This  rule  is  an  improvement  on  the  old  one 
which  allowed  spurs  with  the  permission  of  the  Polo 
Committee.  Blinkers  are  dangerous,  spurs  with 
rowels  are  cruel  on  most  men's  heels,  and  a  pony- 
blind  of  an  eye  is  a  danger  to  other  players. 

Foul  at  End  of  Match. 

36.  In  the  case  of  a  foul  occurring  at  the  end  of  a  match, 
and  there  not  being  time  to  exact  the  penalty  before  the 
final  bell  rings,  "  one  minute  extra  shall  be  allowed  "  from 
the  time  the  ball  is  hit,  or  hit  at,  in  carrying  out  the  penalty. 

This  is  new  to  the  English  code,  but  has  for  some 
time  existed  in  India. 

Substitutes  ifi  Tournaments. 

37.  In  tournaments,  if  a  player  having  taken  part  in  the 
tournament  for  any  reason  be  unable  to  play,  he  may,  with 
the  consent  of  the  committee  of  the  club  where  the  tourna- 
ment is  held,  be  replaced  by  any  player  who,  by  the  rules  of 
the  tournament,  is  qualified,  provided  the  said  player  has  not 
already  competed  in  another  team. 

It  might  perhaps  have  been  well  expressly  to 
exclude  handicap  tournaments  from  the  last  clause 
of  this  rule. 

Polo  managers  know  the  difficulties  of  bringing 
a  handicap  tournament  to  a  satisfactory  finish.  It 
would  be  one  of  the  advantages  of  the  handicap 
system  advocated  at  an  earlier  page  of  this  book, 
that  it  would  be  only  necessary  to  select  a  player 
with  a  handicap  number  similar  to  that  of  the 
absentee. 


RULES  OF  POLO  IN  ENGLAND     363 

Disregard  of  Umpire, 

38.  The  decision  and  injunctions  of  the  umpire  must  not 
be  disregarded  or  questioned.     (Penalty  7.) 

This  rule  has  been  dealt  with  above,  but  it  is  a 
most  desirable  addition,  as  anything  that  strengthens 
the  hands  of  the  umpires  must  be.  This  is  more 
particularly  the  case  when  we  consider  the  increased 
weight  of  responsibility  thrown  on  the  umpire  by 
the  new  rules. 

Incidents  not  provided  for. 

39.  Should  any  incident  or  question,  not  provided  for  in 
these  Rules,  arise,  such  incident  or  question  shall  be  decided 
by  the  umpire  or  umpires.  If  the  umpires  disagree,  a 
referee  shall  be  called  in,  whose  decision  shall  be  final. 

This  gives  umpires  an  absolute  discretion  as  to 
the  meaning  of  any  rule  not  sufficiently  defined.  If 
it  tends  to  more  efficiency  on  the  part  of  the  umpires 
chosen,  it  will  be  a  considerable  advantage  to  polo. 

PENALTIES 

I.  A  free  "  hit  at "  the  ball  from  a  spot  60  yards  from  the 
goal-line  of  the  side  fouling,  opposite  the  centre  of  goal,  or 
if  preferred,  from  where  the  foul  occurred  ;  all  the  side  foul- 
ing to  be  behind  their  back  line  until  the  ball  is  hit,  or  hit 
at,  but  not  between  the  goal-posts  j  nor  when  the  ball  is 
brought  into  play  may  any  of  the  side  ride  out  from  between 
the  goal-posts.  None  of  the  side  fouled  to  be  nearer  the 
goal-line  produced  than  the  ball  is  at  the  moment  it  is  hit, 
or  hit  at.     (See  Rules  20,  21,  22,  23,  and  24.) 


364       POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

2.  A  free  "  hit  at "  the  ball  from  where  it  was  when  the 
foul  took  place,  none  of  the  side  fouling  to  be  within  20 
yards  of  the  ball.  The  side  fouled  being  free  to  place  them- 
selves where  they  choose. 

3.  The  side  fouling  take  the  ball  back  and  hit  it  off  from 
behind  their  own  goal-line  between  the  posts,  none  of  fouled 
side  to  be  within  30  yards  of  the  goal-line  produced,  the  side 
fouling  being  free  to  place  themselves  where  they  choose. 
(For  Penalties  2  and  3,  see  Rules  24,  25,  26,  27,  28,  29, 
and  30.) 

4.  A  free  "hit  at"  the  ball,  from  a  spot  opposite  where 
the  ball  was  hit  behind,  and  60  yards  distant  from  the  "  goal- 
line  produced,"  none  of  the  side  fouling  to  be  within  20  yards 
of  the  ball.  The  side  fouled  being  free  to  place  themselves 
where  they  choose.     (See  Rule  14.) 

5.  At  the  umpire's  discretion  a  second  free  hit  in  the  case 
of  Rule  13  and  Penalty  3  being  infringed,  and  in  cases  when 
Penalties  i,  2,  and  4  are  infringed,  a  second  free  "  hit  at "  the 
ball.     (See  Rule  13,  and  Penalties  i,  2,  3,  and  4.) 

6.  In  the  event  of  unnecessary  delay  in  hitting  out  the 
ball,  the  umpire  shall  call  on  the  offending  side  to  hit  out  at 
once  J  if  the  umpire's  request  is  not  complied  with  he  shall 
bowl  in  the  ball  underhand,  at  the  spot  where  the  ball  crossed 
the  back  line  at  right  angles  to  the  goal  line  or  "  goal  line 
produced,''  as  hard  as  possible.  In  this  case  the  penalty  for 
an  offside  shall  not  be  claimed  against  the  attacking  side 
should  no  one  of  the  defending  side  be  between^  them  and  the 
goal-line  produced,  or  behind  that  line.     (See  Rule  13.) 

7.  The  offender  warned  off  the  ground  for  remainder  of 
match,  no  substitute  allowed  to  take  his  place.      (See  Rule 

38.) 

8.  Designation  of  any  of  the  players  on  the  side  fouling 


RULES  OF  POLO  IN  ENGLAND     365 

who  shall  retire  from  the  game.  The  game  shall  be  con- 
tinued with  three  players  a-side,  and  if  the  side  fouling  refuse 
to  continue  the  game,  it  shall  thereby  lose  the  match.  (See 
Rule  23.) 

9.  DisquaHfication  of  team  offending.     (See  Rule  i.) 

10.  The  pony  ordered  off  the  ground.     (See  Rule  2.) 

The  penalties  above  collected  together  have  a 
somewhat  formidable  appearance.  There  are  ten  of 
them  as  against  three  in  the  old  code.  There  are 
now  three  different  degrees  of  the  free  hit  as  against 
one.  Penalties  i  and  4  deal  with  the  free  hit  at  60 
yards  from  the  goal-line.  This  is  a  sufficient  distance 
from  the  goal-line  to  prevent  the  stroke  being  abso- 
lutely certain  to  make  a  goal,  yet  not  so  far  distant  as 
to  make  it  impossible  to  send  the  ball  through  with 
sufficient  frequency. 

It  is,  however,  much  more  difficult  to  strike  the 
ball  through  the  posts  when  it  is  stationary  than  when 
it  is  moving  rapidly  over  the  ground. 

Comparatively  few  free  hits  result  in  goals  from 
the  central  stroke,  though  they  often  so  improve  the 
position  of  the  side  fouled  as  to  lead  to  an  ultimate 
increase  of  their  score.  Penalty  i  is  more  severe 
than  Penalty  4,  inasmuch  as  the  side  fouling  may 
not  stand  between  the  goal-posts.  Thus  they  have 
no  chance  of  stopping  a  clean  shot  between  their 
posts.  Nor  is  this  all,  for  the  ball  is  allowed  to  be 
placed  opposite  the  centre  of  the  goal. 

This  penalty  is  inflicted  for  crossing  (Rule  20), 
dangerous  riding  (Rule  21),  dangerous  use  of  stick 


366        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

(Rule  22),  for  disabling  a  player  of  the  opposite  side 
(Rule  23),  illegitimate  hustling,  but  only  when 
dangerous  (Rule  24). 

These  offences  are  thus  placed  among  the  chief 
crimes  of  polo,  and  are  accordingly  punished  with  the 
greatest  severity.  They  are  also  intended  to  prevent 
polo  degenerating  into  an  unnecessarily  dangerous 
game. 

Penalty  4,  which  I  take  next,  is  milder  than  Penalty 
I,  for  the  ball  is  placed  60  yards  distant  from  the  goal- 
line  produced  and  opposite  the  place  where  the  ball 
went  out.  This  penalty  applies  to  the  case  of  a  hit  out 
to  save  the  goal  by  a  hard-pressed  side,  and  is  new  to 
the  game. 

Penalties  2  and  3  are  alternative,  and  consist,  in 
the  case  of  Penalty  2,  of  a  free  hit  at  the  ball  from 
the  place  where  the  ball  was  when  the  foul  took 
place,  the  side  fouled  not  to  be  within  20  yards  of 
the  ball  ;  and  in  the  case  of  Penalty  3  the  fouling 
side  has  to  take  the  ball  back  and  hit  off  from  between 
its  own  goal-posts,  the  fouled  side  being  not  within 
30  yards  of  the  goal-line  produced. 

These  penalties  are  inflicted  for  : — 

1 .  Illegal  hustling  when  not  dangerous.   (Rule  24.) 

2.  For  crooking  sticks  in  an  improper  manner. 
(Rule  25.) 

3.  "Offside."     (Rule  26,  except  the  last  clause, 
which  is  only  minatory.) 

4.  Carrying  the  ball.     (Rule  27.) 

5.  Striking  pony  with  head  of  polo  stick.     (Rule 

28.) 


RULES  OF  POLO  IN  ENGLAND      367 

6.  Breach  of  rule  as  to  broken  or  dropped  sticks. 
(Rule  29.) 

7.  Interfering  with  the  game  when  dismounted. 
(Rule  30.) 

The  choice  of  the  penalty  depends  upon  the 
position  of  the  sides  at  the  time  of  the  foul,  and 
according  to  this  a  free  hit  is  taken  or  the  fouling 
side  take  back  the  ball  to  their  own  goal-line. 

I  have  in  another  part  of  this  chapter  given  some 
reasons  for  thinking  that  in  the  case  of  Rule  26  (off- 
side) the  penalty  is  too  severe.  Indeed,  I  am  not 
clear  that  this  penalty  is  not  too  often  permitted,  and 
that  Penalty  2  would  not  meet  the  justice  of  the 
case  in  a  majority  of  instances. 

The  remaining  Penalties,  5  to  10,  explain  them- 
selves, and  are  intended  either  to  discourage  delay,  or 
to  meet  cases  of  foul  play  or  disobedience  to  rules 
referred  to  in  the  former  part  of  this  chapter. 

Taking  the  rules  as  a  whole,  they  appear  to  have 
one  leading  error  running  through  them  all.  Where- 
ever  it  is  possible  the  back  players  and  the  heavy 
men  are  favoured,  and  the  forward  players,  especially 
No.  I,  are  discouraged.  This  has  several  disad- 
vantages. 

(i)  It  makes  polo  more  expensive,  and  places 
light  men  at  a  disadvantage. 

(2)  It  keeps  many  men  out  of  the  game,  for  the 
position  of  No.  i  under  the  present  rules  is  dis- 
couraging and  mortifying.  It  is  often  practically 
impossible  for  a  No.  i  to  do  what  he  is  told  to  do 
and  ride  off  the  No.  4. 


368        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

(3)  The  natural  advantages  to  the  heavy  men 
which  are  inseparable  from  the  conditions  of  English 
polo,  where  soft  grounds,  often  much  cut  up,  are 
in  favour  of  the  heavy  man  and  the  big  pony. 

(4)  It  makes  the  games  slower  and  therefore  less 
interesting  to  the  spectators,  a  matter  of  no  small 
moment  to  clubs,  which  look  for  revenue  from  their 
gate  money. 

(5)  No  man  can  play  No.  i  long  without  spoiling 
his  ponies.  This  is  notorious,  and  I  wonder  this 
fact  alone  has  never  suggested  the  advisability  of  a 
change.  The  game  as  played  in  England  failed,  as 
we  know,  altogether  to  commend  itself  to  the 
American  visitors,  and  players  from  India  find  it 
difficult  to  keep  their  form.     What  we  want  is 

(i)  The  abolition  of  bumping  at  an  angle. 

(2)  The  excision  of  the  paragraph  referring  to  the 
the  last  striker  and  the  substitution  of  a  more  clearly 
worded  definition. 

(3)  The  modification  of  the  "offside"  rule  in 
such  a  way  as  no-  longer  to  give  such  overwhelming 
advantages  to  the  defence,  and  to  make  No.  I's  task 
easier  and  pleasanter. 


CHAPTER   XVlli 


RULES    OF    THE    INDIAN    POLO    ASSOCIATION 


The  code  of  rules  of  the  Indian  Polo  Association  is 
the  best  in  existence,  and  is  the  result  of  great  care 
and  thought,  not  only  in  the  provisions  for  the  due 
ordering  of  the  game,  but  also  in  the  clearness  and 
precision  with  which  these  rules  are  worded.  The 
rules  are  always  open  to  discussion,  and  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  Association  enables  the  Committee;  to 
consider  and  accept  any  suggestion  that  is  likely^  to 
improve  the  game. 

The  Indian  Polo  Association  was  founded  in 
1 89 1,  in  order  that  there  might  be  a  central 
committee  to  regulate  the  game,  and  also  that  the 
authorities  might  have  a  responsible  body  with  whom 
they  could  communicate.     Just  before  1 891,  as  those 

369  2  B 


370        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

who  were  in  India  at  the  time  will  recollect,  Indian 
polo  was  passing  through  a  very  critical  period. 
There  had  been  several  serious  and  some  fatal 
accidents.  Then  the  entry  into  the  competitions 
for  the  principal  cups  of  teams  from  native  states, 
though  not  without  its  advantages  in  bringing  about 
a  more  friendly  feeling  between  native  gentlemen  and 
English  officers,  had  nevertheless  raised  the  price  of 
ponies.  The  supply  of  suitable  country-breds  was 
soon  exhausted,  and  Arabs  began  to  be  used  more  and 
more.  These,  with  a  few  excellent  Australian  and 
New  Zealand  ponies,  became  the  polo  ponies  of  India. 
They  were  very  much  more  expensive  than  the 
country-bred  ponies.  From  1881  to  1891  prices 
went  up  by  leaps  and  bounds,  and,  whereas  I  paid 
about  Rs.  150  apiece  for  my  first  ponies  in  1881, 
at  the  end  of  189 1  I  was  asked  Rs.900  for  a  very 
moderate  animal  indeed,  that  was  readily  snapped  up 
at  that  price  when  I  declined  him.  Although  prices 
had  greatly  increased,  I  do  not  think  the  ponies  were 
any  better.  I  had  some  very  good  ones  in  earlier 
days,  and  the  average  price  was  about  Rs.250.  Very 
high  prices  were  asked  and  given  freely  from  1887 
to  1 89 1.  Men  who  were  not  wealthy — and  rich 
men  did  not  go  to  India  in  those  days,  or  did  not 
stay  long — had  either  to  go  into  debt  or  economise 
somewhere,  and  as  most  cavalry  subalterns  out  of 
fiction  are  sensible  men,  they  economised. 

It  was  felt,  and  not  unjustly,  that  Government 
made  the  officer's  charger  and  expenses  as  heavy  as 
possible.     At  all  events  the  rise  in  the  price  of  ponies 


INDIAN  POLO  ASSOCIATION  RULES    371 

was  accompanied  by  a  fall  in  the  quality  of  chargers. 
The  military  authorities  could  not  but  allow  that 
polo  was  an  excellent  game  for  soldiers,  but  it  clearly 
wanted  regulating.  With  the  wisdom  and  tact  which 
ruled  the  Indian  army  in  those  days,  gentle  pressure 
was  put  upon  the  officers.  They  responded  loyally, 
the  Indian  Polo  Association  was  founded  and  the 
requirements  of  authority  satisfied.  All  station, 
regimental,  and  battery  polo  clubs  were  eligible  to 
become  members.  It  was  thus  not  a  military  polo 
association  only,  although  it  has,  greatly  to  its 
advantage,  been  chiefly  governed  by  soldiers.  There 
is  a  moderate  entrance  fee  of  Rs.5,  and  a  subscription 
of  Rs.io,  for  all  clubs.  Native  teams  can  be  made 
honorary  members,  but  cannot  vote.  The  association 
is  ruled  by  a  committee  elected  by  the  annual  general 
meeting.  No  alteration  of  the  rules  or  constitution 
of  the  Indian  Polo  Association  can  be  made  except  at 
the  general  meeting.  Clubs  that  are  members  of  the 
association  can  vote  by  proxy.  But  the  number  of 
clubs  whose  representatives  are  present  is  usually 
considerable,  and  those  of  station  clubs  (which  include 
civilians  and  departmental  officers)  average  perhaps  a 
third  of  the  whole  number  of  the  delegates.  Every 
change  proposed  is  discussed  first  in  committee  and 
then  submitted  to  the  members  at  the  general 
meeting,  so  that  every  one  who  is  interested  has  a 
chance  of  expressing  an  opinion  and  of  voting. 
Every  year  the  Indian  Polo  Association  publishes  an 
official  Calendar  in  which  the  proceedings  of  the 
year  are   carefully  summarised    and  changes  of  the 


372        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

rules  notified,  every  member  receiving  a  copy.  The 
excellence  of  the  code  of  rules  will  be  observed  by 
every  one  who  will  read  the  following  pages.  The 
Indian  Polo  Association  has  increased  the  popularity 
of  polo  and  strengthened  its  position,  so  that  polo 
has  survived  the  South  African  War,  which  might 
otherwise  have  hit  it  very  hard  indeed,  and  finally 
have  killed  it  altogether  for  a  time  in  India. 

I  have  heard  one  of  our  leading  players  say  that 
he  would  like  to  see  the  Indian  rules  transferred 
bodily  to  England. 

After  careful  study  of  the  rules  of  both  countries 
for  some  years,  I  think  that  where  the  two  codes 
differ  the  advantage  is  generally  with  the  Indian  one. 
Indeed,  as  will  be  seen,  most  of  the  later  changes  in 
our  rules  have  brought  the  Indian  and  the  Hurling- 
ham  rules  more  into  accordance. 

Rules 

Application  to  hold  a  Tournament, 

I.  When  it  is  proposed  to  hold  a  tournament  permission 
shall  be  obtained  ft-om  the  Indian  Polo  Association,  and  a 
prospectus  submitted  to  them  for  approval. 

Thus  at  the  outset  we  see  that  in  the  organisation 
and  discipline  of  the  game,  India  is  in  advance  of 
England.  The  Hurlingham  Committee  claim  no 
control  at  all  over  tournaments  or  the  conditions 
under  which  they  are  played.  Yet  it  would  be 
greatly  for  the  good  of  polo  that  they  should  exercise 
some  supervision  over  the  tournaments.     At  present 


INDIAN  POLO  ASSOCIATION  RULES    373 

each  club  is  left  entirely  to  its  own  devices  in  this 
important  matter.  Yet  the  Hurlingham  Committee, 
as  the  central  governing  body,  ought  to  control  the 
arrangements  for  the  season,  much  as  the  Jockey 
Club  does  the  dates  of  race  meetings  and  the  con- 
ditions of  races.  A  power  of  this  kind  is  but  seldom 
exercised,  but  it  is  a  check  on  possible  abuses  that  it 
should  exist  ready  to  be  used  in  time  of  need. 

Stewards, 

2.  All  tournaments  played  under  the  rules  of  the  Indian 
Polo  Association  shall  be  under  the  management  of  three 
stewards,  who  shall  be  elected  locally. 

Right  of  Appeal  to  Stewards, 

3.  There  shall  be  a  right  of  appeal  to  the  stewards  upon 
all  questions  which  are  not  by  these  rules  declared  to  be 
subject  to  the  final  decision  of  some  other  authority,  such  as 
umpires,  etc.,  and  the  decision  of  the  stewards  in  all  such 
appeals  shall  be  final. 

Questions  to  he  Referred  to  Stewards, 

4.  Any  question  which  may  arise  in  the  course  of  a 
tournament,  and  which  is  not  provided  for  by  these  rules, 
shall  be  referred  for  decision  to  the  stewards,  who  may,  if 
they  think  fit,  refer  the  matter  to  the  Committee  of  the 
Indian  Polo  Association,  whose  decision  shall  be  final. 

Limit  of  Time  and  Number  of  Ponies, 

5.  The  duration  of  play,  and  the  number  of  ponies 
allowed  to  be  played  by  teams  in  a  tournament,  shall  be 
decided   locally  ;    provided  that  the    maximum  duration  of 


374        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

play  in  any  match  does  not  exceed  forty  minutes,  exclusive 
of  stoppages.  Each  team  to  consist  of  not  more  than  four 
players. 

Drawing  of  Ties, 

6.  In  case  of  the  number  of  competing  teams  for  a 
tournament  not  being  a  power  of  2,  as  4,  8,  16,  etc.,  all 
byes  to  be  in  the  first  round.  For  instance,  13  teams 
competing,  3  are  drawn  as  byes  ;  the  remainder  play  off, 
leaving  8  to  play  in  the  second  round. 

List  of  Ponies  and  Short  Description  of  Tournaments, 

7.  The  honorary  secretary  of  a  tournament  will  obtain 
from  the  captain  of  each  team,  at  the  conclusion  of 
tournament,  a  correct  list  of  the  ponies  played  in  the 
tournament  by  his  team.  Printed  forms  will  be  supplied 
by  the  Honorary  Secretary,  Indian  Polo  Association,  for  this 
purpose.  The  lists,  together  with  a  short  description  of 
the  tournament  for  record  in  the  Calendar^  will  be  forwarded 
to  the  Honorary  Secretary,  Indian  Polo  Association,  as  soon 
as  possible  after  the  conclusion  of  the  tournament. 

Ponies  allowed  to  Play  in  a  Tournament. 

8.  No  pony  without  an  Indian  Polo  Association  certifi- 
cate, or  certificate  of  measurement  fourteen  hands  one  inch, 
or  under,  from  an  authorised  measurer  of  the  Association,  or 
from  an  official  measurer  of  the  Calcutta  or  Western  India 
Turf  Club,  granted  since  ist  April  1899,  shall  be  allowed  to 
play  in  a  tournament,  except  when  a  local  measuring  is 
sanctioned. 

Registration  Fee  for  Pony  holding  Racing  Certificate. 

9.  The  honorary  secretary  of  a  tournament  will  be 
responsible  that  a  fee  of  Rs.2  is  collected  for  each  pony  with 


INDIAN  POLO  ASSOCIATION  RULES    375 

a  racing  certificate,  that  has  not  been  previously  registered 
as  a  polo  pony,  before  such  pony  is  allowed  to  play. 

Application  for  a  Measuring  of  Ponies. 

10.  A  measuring  of  ponies  for  Indian  Polo  Association 
certificates  by  a  selected  measurer  will  be  arranged  and 
sanctioned,  when  possible,  on  any  date,  and  at  any  place  it 
may  be  desired.  Applications  for  such  measurings  should 
be  made  to  the  Honorary  Secretary,  Indian  Polo  Association, 
if  possible  one  month  before  the  measuring  is  required.  In 
the  application  the  number  of  ponies  for  which  the  measuring 
is  requisitioned  should  be  stated. 

Local  Measuring. 

11.  In  the  case  of  a  tournament  where  an  Indian  Polo 
Association  measuring  cannot  be  arranged,  a  local  measurer 
will  be  appointed  whose  measurements  will  be  accepted  for 
that  tournament  only. 

Disq  ualifi cation . 

12.  Any  team  knowingly  playing  a  pony  in  a  tourna- 
ment that  has  not  been  measured  and  passed  in  accordance 
with  these  rules,  shall  be  disqualified  for  that  tournament. 

First-Class  Tournaments. 

1 3.  The  following  are  classed  as  first-class  tournaments : — 
The  Inter  -  Regimental  Polo  Tournament  ;  the  British 
Infantry  Polo  Tournament ;  the  Native  Cavalry  Polo 
Tournament ;  the  Indian  Polo  Association  Championship 
Polo  Tournament.  And  all  tournaments  in  which  there 
are  no  restrictions  as  to  composition  of  teams. 

In  England  we  classify  the  players,  in  India  and 


376        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

in  America  the  tournaments.  The  latter  is  the 
simpler  method,  and  perhaps  the  better  of  the  two, 
so  long  as  we  have  no  handicaps. 

Compulsory  Membership. 

14.  All  the  players  in  any  tournament  played  under  the 
Indian  Polo  Association  rules  must  belong  to  some  body 
which  is  a  member  of  the  Association.  The  entrance  fee 
and  annual  subscription  is  so  small  that  any  few  players 
combining  to  form  a  team  can  join  the  Association  as 
a  member,  if  they  do  not  severally  already  belong  to  some 
body  which  is  a  member. 

This  rule,  which  has  a  parallel  in  the  American 
rules,  is,  of  course,  impossible  where  there  is  no  polo 
association  ;  but  the  fact  of  clubs  being  registered  at 
Hurlingham,  or  affiliated  to  the  County  Polo  Associa- 
tion, has  practically  the  same  result,  since  clubs  not 
so  registered  or  affiliated  are  excluded  from  many 
tournaments.  Yet  we  see  plainly  the  advantage  to  the 
game  of  a  central  association  of  a  really  representative 
character.  It  is  less  timid  than  a  committee,  feeling 
that  it  has  the  support  of  all  players,  and,  above  all, 
the  great  danger  that  the  government  and  regulation 
of  the  game  should  fall  into  a  few  hands  is  avoided. 
Both  these  dangers  are  very  obvious  to  all  thoughtful 
men  who  look  forward,  and  their  existence  even  in 
the  future  may  make  English  polo  players  regret 
that  the  course  of  events  has,  so  far,  prevented  a 
polo  association. 

Passing  from  the  regulation  of  polo  tournaments 


INDIAN  POLO  ASSOCIATION  RULES    377 

to  the  rules  of  the  game,  I  propose  to  notice  those 
rules  which  differ  from  ours.  In  considering  the 
Indian  rules  we  must  recollect  in  the  first  place  that 
polo  in  India  is  played  often  on  a  bare  plain.  The 
plain  is,  of  course,  much  harder  than  the  well-watered 
turf  at  Hurlingham  or  Ranelagh.  The  ball  of  bamboo 
root  used  is  at  once  somewhat  larger  and  lighter  than 
ours,  and  travels  over  the  hard,  but  not  inelastic 
surface  of  the  ground  at  a  much  greater  pace  than 
does  the  ball  in  England. 

The  ponies  may  not  be  faster  in  India  than  in 
England,  but  the  game  is  unquestionably  quicker. 
The  ball  there  travels  faster  than  the  ponies,  and  is 
generally  in  front  of  them.  In  England  it  is  quite 
as  often  behind  the  player.  You  have  only  to  watch 
an  Indian  polo  match  carefully  to  understand  why 
players  in  India,  both  native  and  English,  are  averse 
from  any  alteration  in  the  offside  rule.  Their  game 
is  always  fast  and  free  enough  for  ponies  and  players, 
and  there  is  very  little  of  the  tendency  to  stickiness 
that  is  the  standing  danger  of  English  polo.  The 
Indian  game  is  easier  to  play  than  the  English,  and 
we  often  find  that  players  of  some  repute  in  India  fail 
to  show  equally  good  form  in  England.  Mr.  John 
Watson  was  good  in  both  countries,  and  Major 
Maclaren  was  at  his  best  at  Hurlingham  ;  but  with 
these  and  some  other  exceptions,  the  lumpy  sodden 
turf  of  English  polo  grounds  defeats  at  first  the 
best  efforts  of  the  Indian  player.  This  difference 
is  emphasised  in  the  very  first  rule  of  the  Indian 
game. 


378        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Size  of  the  Ground. 

1.  The  size  of  the  ground  shall  be  as  nearly  as  possible 
300  yards  long  and  200  yards  broad. 

The  polo  ground  which  we  find  too  large  in 
England  is  barely  spacious  enough  for  the  Indian 
players.  The  absence  of  a  guard  along  the  sides 
makes  a  difference,  no  doubt.  Indian  matches  are 
usually  played  more  in  the  middle  of  the  ground 
than  are  English  games.  By  common  consent  every 
player  tries  to  avoid  hitting  the  ball  over  the  line, 
whereas  most  English  matches  are  fought  out  along 
the  boards  quite  as  much  as  in  the  middle  of  the 
ground. 

Boundary  Lines, 

2.  The  four  corners  shall  be  marked  by  flags.  The 
boundary  lines  joining  the  corner  flags  shall  be  spit-locked, 
except  between  the  goal-posts,  and  inside  the  subsidiary  goal- 
marks.  Those  marking  the  length  of  the  ground  shall  be 
called  the  side  lines ;  those  marking  the  breadth  of  the 
ground  shall  be  called  the  back  lines. 

Marking  of  Side  Lines. 

3.  Small  flags  shall  be  placed  on  each  side  line  to  mark 
points,  which  shall  be  thirty  yards  from  each  back  line, 
fifty  yards  from  each  back  line,  and  the  centre  of  each  side 
line  (centre  flags). 

Marking  of  Back  Lines. 

4.  In  the  centre  of  each  back  line  there  shall  be  a  goal 
marked  by  goal-posts,  which  shall  be  at  least  ten  feet  high 


INDIAN  POLO  ASSOCIATION  RULES    379 

and  twenty-two  feet  apart.^  Eleven  feet  from  the  outside  of 
each  goal-post,  subsidiary  goal-marks  will  be  shown  on  the 
ground  by  a  small  white  line  perpendicular  to  the  back  line. 

Goal- Line  and  Subsidiary  Goal- Lines, 

5.  The  line  between  the  goal-posts  shall  be  called  the 
goal-line.  The  line  between  the  subsidiary  goal-mark  and 
the  goal-post  nearest  to  it  shall  be  called  the  subsidiary  goal- 
line.  For  matches  the  goal-line  and  the  subsidiary  goal-line 
shall  be  marked  by  a  narrow  line  of  whitewash. 

Another  difference  we  note  is  that  their  goal-posts 
are  two  feet  nearer  to  each  other  than  ours,  being 
twenty-two,  as  against  twenty-four  feet  apart.  In 
addition  to  this  a  space  of  eleven  feet  on  each  side 
of  the  goal-posts  is  marked  off  for  the  subsidiary 
goals.  No  amount  of  subsidiaries  ever  equal  a  goal, 
unless  at  the  close  of  time  the  scores  are  equal,  when 
the  subsidiary  has  the  same  force  as  the  goal,  for  it 
decides  the  match.  I  well  recollect  the  establishment 
of  subsidiaries.  Several  accidents  had  occurred  at 
the  close  of  hard-fought  matches,  and  it  was  thought 
that  some  reckless  play  took  place  in  those  exciting 
moments.  The  authorities  pressed  hard  for  rules 
that  would  diminish  risks.  For  this  purpose  the 
subsidiary  was  invented  to  prevent  ties.  It  may  be 
doubted  if  it  was  needed.  To  win  by  a  subsidiary  is 
a  conclusion  to  a  match  not  satisfactory  to  the  victors  ; 
to  be  beaten  by  a  subsidiary  is  trying  to  a  defeated 
team.  For  while  goals  must  nearly  always  be  won 
by  play,  a  subsidiary  may  easily  be  a  fluke.     Indeed, 

1  This  is  the  only  instance  I  know  of,  ancient  or  modern,  in  which  the  goal- 
posts are  less  than  twenty-four  feet  apart. 


38o        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

must  always  be  so,  since  no  one  ever  intended  to 
make  one  if  he  could  achieve  a  goal.  I  do  not 
think  in  reality  the  last  periods  of  a  match  are  more 
dangerous  than  others,  and  the  subsidiary  would  not 
be  regretted  if  it  ceased  to  exist.  No  one  would 
vote  for  its  introduction  into  English  polo. 

Players  and  Umpires  only  allowed  on  the  Ground. 

6.  Each  team  shall  consist  of  not  more  than  four  players. 
No  person,  other  than  players  and  umpires,  shall  come  on 
the  ground  while  the  ball  is  in  play. 

The  Ball, 

7.  The  ball  shall  be  about  ten  and  a  half  inches  in 
circumference  and  four  ounces  in  weight. 

Duration  of  Play. 

8.  Each  match  shall  last  for  not  more  than  forty  minutes' 
actual  play,  divided  into  periods  of  five  minutes.  Time  must 
be  called,  irrespective  of  the  ball  being  in  play,  when  the 
game  shall  have  lasted  its  specified  maximum  time. 

The  next  point  of  difference  is  in  Rule  8,  the 
Indian  game  being  divided  into  eight  periods  of  five 
minutes  each.  There  are  several  reasons  for  this 
rule.  In  the  first  place  there  is  the  climate,  next  the 
fact  that  the  ponies  used  are  less  powerful  than  English 
ponies,  and  are  not  seldom  overweighted  for  a  long- 
continued  struggle.  Tired  ponies  often  cross  their  legs 
and  come  down,  and  a  fall  is  a  serious  matter  in  India, 
where  the  ground  is  hard.  Five  minutes  is  much 
more  interesting  than  ten  to  the  spectators,  and  polo 


INDIAN  POLO  ASSOCIATION  RULES    381 

is  full  of  excitement  in  India  to  many  people,  natives 
and  Europeans.  Moreover,  the  infantry  and  native 
cavalry  tournaments  have  now  only  six  periods  of 
five  minutes  each,  and  players  and  spectators  find  it 
enough.  No  one,  I  think,  doubts  that  our  English 
matches  are  too  long.  The  experiment,  tried  last 
year  at  Ranelagh  with  such  notable  success,  of  having 
all  the  preliminary  ties  of  the  Army  Cup  and  the 
whole  of  the  Aldershot  Cup  ties  played  off  in  one 
day  in  short  games,  shows  that  games  will  bear  re- 
duction in  length  with  advantage.  The  finals  of 
the  Championship,  of  the  Inter- Regimental  and 
Ranelagh  Open  Cups  and  a  few  other  first-class 
tournaments  are  about  the  only  matches  that  might 
not  be  the  better  for  reduction  in  length.  There  is 
another  consideration,  and  this  is  that  short  periods 
tend  to  economy  in  ponies.  Two  good  ponies  could 
undoubtedly  play  for  three  or  four  periods  of  five 
minutes  each.  I  can  imagine,  however,  that  if  the 
ball  did  not,  as  sometimes  it  does  not,  go  out  for 
seven  or  eight  minutes  on  a  guarded  ground,  there 
would  be  a  certain  inconvenience  in  having,  say,  but 
two  minutes  or  less  of  play  in  the  next  period.  In 
such  a  case  the  Indian  plan  of  deducting  the  overtime 
in  aggregate  from  the  last  period,  or  the  last  but  one 
would  probably  meet  the  case.  This  the  Indian  rule 
provides  for  as  follows  : — 

Periods, 

9.  A  period  will  end  the  first  time  the  ball  goes    out 
after   five    minutes'    actual   play,  except    that    the   penalty 


382        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

mentioned  in  Rule  17  (/),  or  the  penalty  for  any  foul, 
must  be  exacted  in  the  same  period  in  which  the  breach 
of  rules  occurred.  Any  excess  of  time  over  five  minutes 
in  each  period  will  be  deducted  from  the  last  period,  and,  if 
the  aggregate  of  such  overtime  exceeds  five  or  ten  minutes, 
from  the  last  period  but  one,  or  the  last  period  but  two,  as 
may  be  found  necessary. 

The  plan  here  adopted  is  to  deduct  all  the  over- 
time* in  an  aggregate  at  the  close  of  the  match,  and 
is  a  simpler  method  than  the  Hurlingham  rule  of 
taking  off  the  time  from  the  next  period.  It  has 
the  further  advantage  of  making  all  the  periods  of 
actual  play  fairly  equal  in  length.  Where,  however, 
the  ground  has  no  boards,  I  should  think  that  the 
ball  would  seldom  be  so  long  without  going  out 
as  to  make  the  total  deductions  at  the  end  to 
extend  to  more  than,  say,  one  period. 

Intervals. 

10.  There  shall  be  an  interval  of  not  more  than  three 
minutes  between  each  period,  and  of  one  minute  after  each 
goal.  At  the  conclusion  of  each  interval,  and,  otherwise, 
whenever  the  ball  goes  out  of  play,  the  game  must  be  at  once 
restarted  as  laid  down  in  Rule  17. 

The  allowance  of  time  after  each  period  is  three 
minutes,  and  one  minute  after  each  goal,  amounting 
to  nearly  half  an  hour  to  forty  minutes'  play.  This 
seems  unnecessarily  long.  In  England  the  total 
pauses  would  not  average  more  than  twenty  minutes 
to  an  hour's  actual  play — a  better  proportion. 


INDIAN  POLO  ASSOCIATION  RULES    383 

A  Match^  how  decided, 

11.  A  match  is  won  by  the  team  that  scores  the  greatest 
number  of  goals,  or,  in  the  event  of  a  tie,  by  the  team  that 
scores  the  greatest  number  of  subsidiary  goals.  No  number 
of  subsidiary  goals  will  ever  equal  a  true  goal.  If  at  the 
expiration  of  time  each  team  has  scored  the  same  number  of 
goals  and  subsidiary  goals,  the  goals  shall  be  widened  up  to 
the  subsidiary  goal-marks,  and  fresh  subsidiary  goal-marks 
drawn  at  the  usual  distance  outside  them.  The  game  shall 
then  be  restarted  from  the  centre  of  the  ground  (vide  Rule 
17  (^),  and  play  shall  be  continued  for  five  minutes.  If  at 
the  expiration  of  this  additional  five  minutes  the  game  is  no 
longer  a  tie,  time  shall  be  called,  and  the  match  shall  end. 
But  if  the  game  is  still  a  tie,  time  shall  not  be  called  until  the 
ball  goes  out  of  play.  The  game  shall  then  be  continued 
with  the  usual  periods  and  intervals,  until  one  side  scores, 
when  it  shall  end,  or,  otherwise,  until  the  play  is  no  longer 
possible.  In  the  latter  case  the  local  tournament  committee 
will  settle  whether  the  match  is  to  be  played  over  again, 
or  the  most  equitable  way  in  which  a  decision  shall  be 
arrived  at. 

This  rule  follows  the  Indian  principle  of  avoiding 
close  struggles,  and  provides  for  the  widening  of  the 
goal-posts  to  forty-four  feet  in  case  of  a  tie.  This 
seems  an  almost  absurd  width,  and  must  deprive 
Indian  polo  matches  of  many  exciting  finishes.  I 
think  most  players  in  England  would  be  sorry  to  see 
the  introduction  of  this  rule. 

Goal^  how  obtained, 

12.  A  goal  is  obtained  if  the  ball  cross  over  the  back  line 
between  the  goal-posts,  or,  if  higher  than  the  goal-posts. 


384        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

between  the  goal-posts  produced  perpendicularly,  or,  if  one 
or  both  goal-posts  have  been  displaced,  between  the  points 
where  the  goal-posts  should  stand. 

This  rule  has  the  same  effect  as  Hurlingham 
Rule  17,  but  the  latter  would  be  better  if  the  last 
clause  of  the  Indian  rule  was  added. 

Subsidiary  Goal^  how  obtained. 

13.  A  subsidiary  goal  is  obtained  in  the  same  way  as  a 
goal,  except  that  to  score  a  subsidiary  goal  the  ball  must 
pass  between  the  subsidiary  goal-mark  and  the  goal-post 
which  is  nearest  to  it.  After  a  subsidiary  goal  the  ball  shall 
be  hit  off  in  accordance  with  Rule  17  [e)  or  [f). 

Goals  obtained  by  Unfair  Play. 

14.  No  goals  or  subsidiary  goals  shall  be  counted  which 
have  been  obtained  by  unfair  play.  Any  infringement  of 
the  rules  constitutes  unfair  play. 

Choice  and  Change  of  Goals, 

15.  Sides  shall  toss  for  choice  of  goals.  With  regard  to 
the  change  of  goals  in  the  case  of  no  goals  being  scored, 
when  half-time  would  fall  in  the  middle  of  a  period,  the  first 
time  the  ball  goes  out  of  play,  after  half  the  time  allotted 
for  the  totarperiods  of  play  shall  have  expired,  goals  shall  be 
changed  and  the  game  restarted  as  directed  in  paragraph  {a) 
rule  1 7,  Rules  of  the  Game  of  Polo,  provided  that  any  penalty 
due  is  first  exacted.  But  after  the  first  goal,  goals  shall  only 
be  changed  after  each  goal  obtained. 

1 6.  If  the  game  has  to  be  stopped  from  any  cause,  for 
any  length  of  time,  before  the  full  time  of  play  has  been 


INDIAN  POLO  ASSOCIATION  RULES    385 

completed,  the  local  committee  shall  decide  when  the  game 
shall  be  resumed. 

Rules  13,  14,  15,  and  16  require  no  comment, 
and  so  far  as  they  cover  the  same  ground  as  the 
Hurlingham  rules,  have  the  same  effect. 

Bringing  the  Ball  into  Play. 

Starting  and  Restarting  Game. 

17.  The  umpires  shall  have  the  power  of  ordering  play 
to  begin,  after  the  time  fixed,  notwithstanding  the  absence 
of  any  player. 

(^)  To  start  the  game,  and  after  each  change  of  goals, 
the  ball  shall  be  brought  into  play  between  the 
centre  flags  by  one  of  the  umpires  (who  will  remain 
mounted)  bowling  the  ball  underhand  along  the 
ground,  close  to  his  pony,  as  hard  as  possible,  at 
right  angles  to  the  side-line,  towards  the  centre  of 
the  ground,  between  the  two  sides,  who  will  range 
themselves  opposite  to  each  other  ;  no  player  to  be 
closer  to  the  umpire  than  ten  yards.  The  umpire 
will  bring  the  ball  into  play,  from  a  point  about 
eighty  yards  from  the  side-line,  and  always  from 
the  same  side  of  the  ground. 

{b)  The  same  procedure  will  be  adopted  in  the  case  of  a 
broken  ball  or  an  accident,  but  in  these  cases  the 
ball  will  be  brought  into  play,  outwards  from  the 
centre,  at  the  spot  where  the  ball  was  broken,  or 
the  accident  occurred. 

{c)  When  the  ball  goes  out  at  the  side,  the  ball  shall  be 
thrown  in  at  once  at  the  spot  where  it  went  out, 
either  by  the  umpire  in  the  manner  detailed  above, 

2  c 


386        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

or  by  any  one  on  foot  deputed  by  him  to  do  so, 
who  will  bowl  it  in  underhand  ;  no  player  to  be 
within  ten  yards  of  the  line.  The  umpire  will 
not  wait  for  both  sides  to  form  up. 

(d)  To  re-start  the  game  after  a  foul  has  been  given,  the 

penalty  for  that  foul  will  be  carried  out. 

(e)  When  the  ball  is  hit  behind  the  adversary's  back  line 

by  one  of  the  attacking  side,  the  goal  referee  will 
place  the  ball  on  a  spot  as  near  as  possible  to  that  at 
which  it  crossed  the  line,  but  behind  it.  The 
umpires  will  see  that  the  ball  is  hit  off  by  one  of 
the  defending  side  without  delay,  and  that  none  of 
the  attacking  side  approach  within  thirty  yards 
of  the  back  Hne  up  to  the  moment  it  is  hit  off. 
At  the  commencement  of  a  new  period,  should 
none  of  the  defending  side  be  on  the  spot  where  the 
ball  went  behind,  ready  to  hit  off,  it  is  the  duty  of 
the  goal  referee  at  once  to  bowl  in  the  ball  under- 
hand, at  the  spot,  at  right  angles  to  the  back  line, 
as  hard  as  possible.  And  in  this  case  the  penalty 
for  an  off-side  shall  not  be  claimed  against  the 
attacking  side,  should  no  one  of  the  defending  side 
be  between  them  and  the  back  line. 

(/)  When  the  ball  is  hit,  with  a  stick,  behind  the  back 
line  by  one  of  the  defending  side,  one  of  that  side 
shall  hit  it  off  from  behind  the  goal-line,  between 
the  goal-posts.  All  the  players  on  the  defending 
side  shall  stand  behind  the  back  line,  not  outside 
the  subsidiary  goal-marks  on  each  side  ;  none  of 
the  attacking  side  to  be  within  thirty  yards  of  the 
back  line,  in  each  case,  until  the  ball  is  hit  off 
across  the  back  line.  The  penalty  will  not  be 
exacted  should  the  ball  go  behind  by  reason  of  a 
glance  off  a  pony  or  a  player. 


INDIAN  POLO  ASSOCIATION  RULES    387 

Rule  17  differs  from  the  English  rule  by  laying 
down  the  way  in  which  the  umpire  shall  throw  in  the 
ball  to  start  the  play.  The  method  here  advised 
will  be  found  to  be  the  best  in  practice,  and  far 
better  than  the  overhand  chuck  of  the  ball  one  sees 
sometimes.  The  effect  of  it  is,  if  properly  done,  to 
prevent  any  one  snatching  the  ball  or  obtaining  an 
undue  advantage  from  the  throw-in.  The  provision 
that  no  player  should  be  closer  to  the  umpire  than 
ten  yards  (30  feet)  would  be  unnecessary  here.  It 
would  be  difficult  to  bowl  a  ball  on  our  turf  for 
thirty  yards  with  much  effect.  There  does  not  seem 
any  reason  for  interfering  with  the  discretion  granted 
to  our  umpires  as  to  the  distance  from  which  they 
throw  in  the  ball. 

17  (^).  Is  the  same  as  in  the  Hurlingham  rules. 

17  (c).  Repeats  the  provision  about  no  player  being 
nearer  than  ten  yards  to  the  umpire  who  is  re- 
starting the  game. 

17  (^).  Speaks  for  itself. 

17  (e).  Provides  for  the  hit  out  and  forbids  un- 
necessary delay. 

1 7  (/).  Is  identical  with  the  now  cancelled  rule  of 
the  Hurlingham  code  that  has  just  been  replaced  by 
the  free  hit  at  sixty  yards,  as  a  penalty  for  hitting  the 
ball  behind  their  own  goal  by  one  of  the  defending 
side. 

Ball  in^  and  Out  of^  Play. 

18.  The  ball  shall  be  considered  to  be  in  play  whenever 
it  has  been  hit  off  across  the  back  line  ;  or,  in  the  case  of  a 
penalty  other  than  a  hit  off  from  behind,  whenever  it  has 


388        POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

been  struck,  or  struck  at,  with  the  intention  of  hitting  off ; 
or  whenever  it  has  been  thrown  in,  unless  immediately 
recalled  by  the  umpire.  The  ball  is  out  of  play  if  it  goes 
over  and  clear  of  the  side  or  back  line  [vide  Rule  35),  or,  if 
these  lines  are  marked  by  a  trench,  into  that  trench. 

With  the  exception  of  the  concluding  paragraph, 
all  these  provisions  are  found  in  the  Hurlingham 
rules. 

Dismounted  Player. 

19.  No  dismounted  player  shall  be  allowed  in  any  way 
to  take  part  in  the  game  while  dismounted. 

Left-handed  Play  and  Catching  the  Ball. 

A  player  must  not  play  left-handed.  If  any  player  catch 
the  ball  in  any  way  during  the  game,  it  must  be  dropped  on 
the  ground  at  once. 

Rule  20  forbids  left-handed  play,  which  is  on  the 
whole  a  judicious  rule.  Left-handed  play  is  always 
dangerous,  because  it  is  unexpected,  and  it  is  thus 
liable  to  cause  accidents  and  collisions. 

Reviving  the  Ball. 

21.  The  ball  must  be  revived,  whenever  the  ball  goes 
out  of  play,  with  the  least  possible  delay.  If  unnecessary 
delay  occurs  the  umpire  will  either  revive  the  ball  himself  in 
the  necessary  direction,  or  give  a  foul  against  the  offending 
side  {vide  Rule  39  <7). 

Crooking  or  Stopping  Sticks. 

22.  No  player  shall  crook  or  stop  an  adversary's  stick 
except  when  the  latter  is  about  to  strike  the  ball,  and  unless 


INDIAN  POLO  ASSOCIATION  RULES    389 

he  is  on  the  same  side  of  the  adversary's  pony  as  the  ball, 
or  immediately  behind. 

Rule  22.  This  rule  has  been  transferred  in  sub- 
stance to  Hurlingham  rules. 


Rough  Play, 

23.  No  player  shall  seize  with  the  hand,  strike,  or  push 
with  the  head,  elbow,  hand,  stick  or  whip  another  player  or 
pony  J  but  a  player  may  push  with  his  arm  above  the  elbow, 
provided  the  elbow  be  kept  close  to  his  side.  A  player  who 
after  being  once  warned  by  the  umpire  continues  to  play 
roughly,  renders  himself  liable  to  be  ordered  off  the  ground 
for  "  unfair  play  "  under  Rule  38  (a). 

24.  No  player  shall  intentionally  strike  his  pony  with  the 
head  of  his  polo  stick. 

Rules  23  and  24  against  rough  play  are  practically 
identical  with  the  Hurlingham  provisions  for  such 
cases. 

PThips. 

25.  Whips  may  be  used,  but  the  length  of  a  whip  must 
not  exceed  3  feet  6  inches. 

This  is  a  step  in  the  right  direction,  if  a  whip  is 
required  at  all.  In  the  case  of  a  lazy  Arab  a  sharp 
cut  may  be  desirable.  But  a  wise  player  would  think 
twice  before  he  bought  a  pony  that  required  much 
whip  or  had  had  it  used  on  him  frequently.  Nothing, 
of  course,  is  worse  form  or  more  useless  than  to  set 
to  work  to  flog  a  pony  half  across  a  polo  ground. 
This    is    seldom    done,  but  when    it    is    done   it    is 


390        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

probably  more  to  ease  the  owner's  temper  than  to 
improve  the  pony.  Umpires  might  perhaps  be 
empowered  to  check  this  use  of  the  whip. 

I  have  always  had  a  doubt  as  to  the  fairness  of  the 
use  of  the  whip,  as  the  sight  and  sound  may  easily 
upset  a  nervous  pony  belonging  to  another  player. 
It  is  possible  that  the  whip  may  follow  sharp  spurs 
into  the  category  of  things  forbidden.  On  the  whole, 
I  think  most  people  would  agree  that  a  pony  that 
requires  a  whip  is  out  of  his  element  on  a  polo 
ground.  Mares  should  never  be  struck  at  all.  I 
am  far  from  saying  that  no  correction  is  ever  re- 
quired, for  it  is,  but  it  should  be  given  in  private, 
and  the  result  will  not  be  forgotten  if,  when  you  use 
the  whip  or  spurs,  you  speak  sharply.  The  pony 
will  respond  to  a  word  afterwards.  A  whip  in  a 
game  is  dangerous  in  the  hands  of  an  excitable  or 
quick-tempered  man,  and  is  sometimes  used  in  a 
fashion  which  suggests  cruelty  to  the  spectator.  Of 
this  the  least  appearance,  not  to  say  reality,  should 
be  avoided  for  the  sake  of  the  good  name  of  polo. 

No  Player  to  Interfere  when  Offside. 

26.  No  player  when  offside  shall  be  allowed  to  hit 
the  ball,  or  shall  in  any  way  prevent  the  opposite  side  from 
reaching  or  hitting  the  ball,  or  in  any  way  interfere  in  the 
game,  intentionally  or  otherwise. 

Definition  of  Offside, 

27.  A  player  is  "  offside  "  when  at  the  time  of  the  ball 
being  hit,  he  has  no  adversary  nearer  than  he  is  to  such 
adversary's  back  line  or  behind  that  line,  and  he  is  neither 


INDIAN  POLO  ASSOCIATION  RULES    391 

in  possession  of  the  ball,  nor  behind  one  of  his  own  side,  who 
is  in  possession  of  the  ball.  He  shall  be  deemed  to  remain 
offside  until  he  is — first,  in  the  position  of  an  onside  player ; 
second,  until  the  ball  is  hit,  or  hit  at,  again. 

Rule  27.  In  the  last  revision  of  the  rules  by  the 
Indian  Polo  Association,  the  offside  rule  was  slightly 
altered.  The  player  ceases  to  be  offside  directly  he 
places  himself  onside,  and  has  merely  therefore  to 
pull  back  into  that  position,  and  ceases  to  be  under 
the  disqualification  of  a  player  offside  directly  he  does 
so.  This  lessens  the  severity  of  the  rule,  especially  as 
against  No.  i .  No.  4  B  pulls  back  and  puts  No.  i  A 
offside  by  six  inches.  No.  i  A  checks  his  pony  and 
lets  No.  4  B  be  nearer  to  the  goal  than  he  is,  and  so 
long  as  No.  i  A  does  not  interfere  with  No.  4  B 
while  he  is  actually  offside^  he  can  ride  him  off  or  hit 
the  ball  directly  he  is  onside  again,  whether  the  ball 
"  is  hit  or  hit  at "  or  not. 

In  the  case  of  a  player  who  has  returned  to  the 
position  of  an  onside  player  after  having  been  off- 
sided,  provided,  I  suppose,  the  offside  has  not  been 
claimed  in  the  meantime,  there  would  of  course  be 
no  penalty,  but  in  India  the  umpires  would  probably 
not  give  an  offside  if  they  saw  the  player  trying  to 
place  himself  onside  again. 

Dangerous  Fouls. 
Definition  of  Possession  of  Ball. 

28.  The  player  who  last  hit  the  ball,  if  still  following  the 
line  of  the  hall^  remains  in  possession  of  the  ball,  so  long  as 


392        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

he  can,  at  the  pace  at  which  he  is  moving^  reach  the  ball 
again  before  any  other  player  ;  and  the  possession  of  the  ball 
only  passes  to  another  player,  when  that  other  player — 

(a)  Is  riding  on  a  line  closer  and  more  nearly  parallel  to 

the  line  on   which   the  ball  is  travelling  than  the 
original  striker. 

[b]  Places  himself  on  the  Hne  of  the  ball  first  without 

causing  the  original  striker  to  check  to  avoid  a  collision, 

{c)  Fairly  "rides  off"  (Rule  30)  the  original  striker. 


The  object  of  the  rule  is  to  give  the  possession  of 
the  ball  to  the  man  who  follows  its  course  most 
closely.  It  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  Hurlingham 
rules,  but  the  wording  of  {a)  is  somewhat  more 
accurate  and  precise. 

There  is  one  important  clause  in  this  rule  which 
has  no  equivalent  in  the  English  rules,  "  so  long 
as  he  can  at  the  pace  at  which  he  is  moving  reach 
the  ball  before  any  other  player." 

This  clause  must  be  taken  in  connection  with  the 
advice  given  to  umpires  (p.  401),  which  runs — 

"In  all  doubtful  cases  of  crossing,  the  pace  at 
which  both  players  are  moving  must  be  carefully 
considered,  as  on  this  depends  the  question  whether 
the  player  entitled  to  possession  has  (or  has  not)  to 
check  to  avoid  collision."  These  two  clauses  taken 
together  are  a  most  valuable  help  to  the  umpire. 
The  italicised  clause  in  Rule  28  entitles  the  umpire 
to  consider  the  question  of  the  relative  pace  of  two 
players.     The  advice  indicates  to  him  in  what  way 


INDIAN  POLO  ASSOCIATION  RULES    393 

he  is  to  apply  his  observations  to  individual  cases. 
Thus  supposing  A  on  a  slow  pony  (or  being  a  player 
who  is  not  riding  his  best  pace)  is  in  possession  and 
is  crossed  by  B  on  a  faster  pony  (or  because  B  is 
pushing  along  at  greater  speed),  A  is  not  entitled  to 
claim  a  cross,  even  though  he  check  his  pony,  because 
that  action  was  not  necessary  to  safety.  The  play 
was  not  dangerous.  Where  there  is  no  danger  there 
can  in  such  cases  be  no  foul.  The  umpire,  however, 
while  bound  to  consider  the  pace,  is  left  to  his  own 
discretion  in  the  application  of  the  principle.  The 
prudent  umpire  will  incline  to  severity  in  granting 
crosses,  giving  the  player  crossed  the  benefit  of  the 
doubt.  Yet  it  is  not  enough  for  a  player  "  to  check 
his  pony,*'  he  must  be  obliged  to  do  so.  In  the 
clause  "  the  player  entitled  to  possession  has  to  check 
his  pony  to  avoid  collision,"  the  words  *'  has  to,"  are 
clearly  intended  to  be  equivalent  to  "is  obliged  to 
check." 

Crossing. 

29.  One  player  crosses  another — 

{a)  Who,  when  not  entitled  to  possession  of  the  ball  (as 
defined  in  Rule  28),  crosses  the  line  on  which  the 
ball  is  travelling,  or  that  line  produced,  and  thereby 
collides  with  the  player  in  possession  of  the  ball, 
or  causes  the  latter  to  check  to  avoid  collision. 

[b)  Who  when  in  possession  of  the  ball,  turns  on  the  ball, 
except  at  such  a  distance  as  to  obviate  any  chance 
of  collision  with  another  player  riding  on  the  line, 
produced  either  way  on  which  the  ball  is,  or  has 
been  travelling. 


394        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

(c)  Who,  when  two  players  (neither  entitled  to  possession) 
start  from  difFerent  directions  to  try  and  obtain 
possession  of  the  ball,  does  not  give  way  to  the 
other  plaver  of  the  two  who  is  moving  on  the 
line  more  nearly  parallel  to  that  on  which  the  ball 
is,  or  has  been  travelling. 

N.B. — In  no  case  can  a  player  be  made  to  pay  the 
penalty  for  a  cross,  who  is  so  ridden  ofF  as  to  be 
forced  across  the  line  of  a  player  who  is  in 
possession  of  the  ball.  In  this  case  the  player  who 
caused  the  danger  is  to  blame. 

Rule  29  is  practically  the  same,  except  that  {b)  is 
not  defined  in  the  Hurlingham  rule  as  constituting  a 
cross,  but  I  think  most  umpires  would  give  a  cross 
in  such  a  case,  and  would  be  justified  in  doing  so. 
The  clause,  however,  is  one  that  it  would  do  no 
harm  to  add  to  the  Hurlingham  rules. 

(c)  The  wording  is  difFerent  from  Hurlingham, 
but  the  meaning  is  much  the  same. 

To  the  note  appended  to  this  rule  we  have  no 
equivalent,  but  Rule  39  brings  such  cases  within  the 
discretion  of  the  umpire. 

Fair  Riding. 

30.  A  player  shall  be  considered  to  ride  ofF  fairly,  when, 
having  placed  himself  abreast  of  an  adversary  (after  following 
a  line  of  direction  as  nearly  as  possible  parallel  to  that  on 
which  his  adversary  is  moving),  he  gradually  forces  him 
from,  or  prevents  his  continuing  in,  the  direction  in  which 
he  is  riding. 

This  is  a  very  important  rule,  and  contains  what 


INDIAN  POLO  ASSOCIATION  RULES    395 

Hurlingham  has  not — a  definition  very  clear  and  pre- 
cise of  the  right  way  to  ride  another  player  off.  The 
effect  of  this  rule  is  to  prevent  the  heavy  bump- 
ing into  a  player  at  an  angle,  which  is  common  in 
England.  The  Indian  method  of  riding  up  alongside 
and  then  trying  to  edge  the  adversary  away  is  not  so 
dangerous,  and  gives  more  advantage  to  real  horse- 
manship, an  accomplishment  polo  should  encourage 
men  to  try  for.  Moreover,  this  manner  of  riding  off 
is  not  so  likely  to  spoil  the  pony  that  is  ridden  by 
the  opponent. 

Dangerous  Riding, 

31.  Riding  into  an  adversary  in  any  other  way  than  is 
defined  in  Rule  28,  or  placing  a  stick  in  a  dangerous  manner 
over  or  under  the  body,  or  across  the  legs,  of  an  adversary's 
pony,  constitutes  dangerous  riding.  A  player,  however,  who 
deliberately  rides  his  pony  up  to  an  adversary  who  is  in  pos- 
session of,  and  striking  at,  the  ball,  or  who  deliberately  rides 
his  pony  over  the  ball  to  prevent  an  adversary  striking  at  it, 
does  so  at  his  own  risk. 

This  rule  has  practically  been  adopted  into  our 
code. 

Penalties 
Penalty  for  an  Ordinary  Foul, 

32.  The  penalty  for  an  "ordinary  foul,"  i.e,  for  any  in- 
fringement of  Rules  19-27,  is  either — 

( I )  A  free  hit  from  where  the  ball  was  when  the  foul 
occurred,  none  of  the  side  causing  the  foul  to  come 
within  ten  yards  of  the  ball  till  it  has  been  hit  or 
hit  at. 


396        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

(2)  The  side  causing  the  foul  to  take  the  ball  back  and 
hit  it  off  from  behind  their  own  back  line,  as  in  Rule 

'7  (/)• 
The  side  which  is  not  the  offending  one  has  the  choice 

of  penalties. 

Penalty  for  a  "  Dangerous  Foul^ 

33.  The  penalty  for  a  "  dangerous  foul,"  i.e.  for  crossing 
or  dangerous  riding,  is  as  follows  : — 

A  free  hit  from  a  spot  fifty  yards  from  the  back  line  of 
the  side  causing  the  foul,  opposite  the  centre  of  the  goal,  or, 
if  preferred,  from  where  the  foul  occurred  ;  all  the  side 
causing  the  foul  to  be  behind  the  back  line  until  the  ball  is 
hit  or  hit  at,  but  not  between  the  goal-posts,  nor  when  the 
ball  is  brought  into  play  may  any  of  that  side  ride  out  from 
between  the  goal-posts  ;  none  of  the  other  side  to  be  nearer 
the  back  line  than  the  ball  is  at  the  moment  the  ball  is  hit 
or  hit  at. 

Time  Allowed  for  a  Penalty. 

33A.  If  a  penalty  for  an  ordinary  or  dangerous  foul  is 
awarded  within  fifteen  seconds  of  final  time  being  called, 
then  fifteen  seconds  shall  be  allowed  from  the  time  the  ball 
is  hit  or  hit  at  until  final  time  is  called. 

The  purpose  of  this  is,  ot  course,  to  prevent  any 
advantage  accruing  to  a  side  from  a  foul.  It  will  be 
noted  that  the  whole  tendency  of  the  changes  in  the 
rules  of  polo,  both  in  England  and  in  India,  is  to 
make  them  more  stringent  in  restraining  unfair  or 
dangerous  play.  If  once  the  authorities  can  succeed 
in  discouraging  reckless  play  effectually  they  will 
have  gone  far  to  remove  from  polo  the  reproach  that 
it  is  a  dangerous  game. 


INDIAN  POLO  ASSOCIATION  RULES    397 

Umpires,  etc. 
Umpire  Staff. 

34.  Two  umpires,  four  goal  referees,  a  time-keeper,  and 
a  scorer  shall  be  nominated  for  each  match.  The  umpires 
and  goal  referees  shall  each  be  provided  with  a  whistle. 
Each  pair  of  goal  referees  shall  in  addition  be  provided  with 
a  coloured  flag  for  signalling  goals,  and  a  white  flag  for 
signalling  subsidiary  goals.  The  time-keeper  shall  be  pro- 
vided with  a  stop-watch. 

The  Whistle, 

35.  Umpires  and  goal  referees  will  blow  a  whistle  when- 
ever the  ball  is  out  of  play,  as  a  signal  that  the  game  must 
be  stopped.  The  whistle  must  never  be  blown  to  show  that 
the  ball  is  brought  into  play. 

Salifications  of  Umpires. 

36.  Umpires  must  be  regular  polo  players,  and  must 
possess  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  rules  of  the  game. 
They  must  be  mounted  on  well-trained  and  fast  ponies,  so 
as  to  be  able  to  ride  near  enough  to  the  ball  to  give  a  deci- 
sion at  any  moment,  and  yet  not  to  interfere  with  the 
players.  Their  decision  is  final  on  all  questions  arising  out 
of  the  actual  play  of  the  game,  as  well  as  on  questions  declared 
by  these  rules  to  be  subject  to  their  final  decision. 

The  staff  of  an  Indian  polo  ground  is  a  large  one, 
and  requires  six  men.  The  goal  referees  decide  on 
disputed  goals,  wave  a  flag,  and  blow  a  whistle  when 
the  ball  is  out  of  play.  The  whistle  is,  as  with  us,  a 
signal  that  the  ball  is  dead.  The  last  of  these  three 
rules  is  a  definition  as  to  the  qualifications  of  umpires, 
and  is  an  excellent  one. 


398        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Duties  of  Umpires  as  to  Stopping  the  Game. 

37.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  umpires  to  stop  the  game 
when — 

{a)  The  ball  is  sufficiently  damaged  to  interfere  with  the 
game. 

{b)  The  ball  is  not  brought  properly  into  play. 

\c)  The  ball  crosses  the  side  line. 

\d)  They  see,  whether  appealed  to  or  not,  any  infringe- 
ment of  these  rules  constituting  an  "  ordinary  foul " 
or  a  "  dangerous  foul." 

{e)  Any  fall  or  accident  involving  danger  occurs. 

Duties  of  Umpires  as  to  Dangerous  Players  and  Ponies. 

38.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  umpires  to  order  off  the 
ground — 

{a)  Any  player  who  deliberately  plays  unfairly  or  rides 
dangerously,  and  he  shall  not  be  replaced. 

[b)  Any  pony  which  they  may  consider  dangerous  or 
improperly  bitted,  or  which  the  rider  has  not  under 
thorough  control. 

Duties  of  Umpires  as  to  Reviving  the  Ball^  etc. 

39.  It  is  the  duty  of  umpires — 

{a)  To  see  that  no  delay  occurs  in  reviving  the  ball  under 
Rule  17  (^/),  {e\  and  (/)  {yide  Rule  21). 

(^)  To  order  any  player  to  take  off  his  spurs,  or  to  use 
spurs  without  rowels,  who,  in  his  opinion,  is  ill- 
treating  his  pony. 

Rules  36,  37,  and  38,  though  they  do  not  really 
add  much  to  the  ordinary  ideas  of  the  umpires'  duties, 
should  most  unquestionably  be  as  they  are  here — 
made  an  integral  portion  of  the  rules  of  polo. 


INDIAN  POLO  ASSOCIATION  RULES    399 

Duties  of  Goal  Referees, 

40.  Goal  referees  shall  blow  the  whistle  the  moment  the 
ball  crosses  the  back  line  at  any  point.  They  are  the  judges 
of  the  goals  and  subsidiaries,  but  if  at  any  time  they  are  in 
doubt,  the  umpires  must  be  consulted.  In  the  case  of  a  goal 
or  a  subsidiary  goal  they  will  at  once  signal  to  the  scorer, 
and  see  that  the  signal  is  answered.  Their  duties  as  to  re- 
starting the  game  are  explained  in  Rule  17  {e). 

We  have  no  goal  referees.  The  flag  signallers 
with  us  are  club  attendants. 

Duties  of  Time-keeper. 

41.  The  time-keeper  is  responsible  that  a  bell  is  rung,  or 
a  bugle  sounded,  at  the  conclusion  of  each  period  and  in- 
terval. He  will  stop  his  watch  whenever  the  whistle  is 
blown.  No  time  shall  be  counted  while  the  ball  is  out  of 
play. 

Time-keeper. — Nothing  new  is  here,  but  it  is  a 
clear  advantage  again  to  make  stopping  the  watch 
on  the  blowing  of  the  whistle  a  rule. 

We  now  come  to  the  '*  Hints  to  Umpires,"  con- 
tained in  the  Indian  Polo  Calendar.  They  include, 
in  fact,  almost  the  whole  duty  of  umpires,  and  are 
as  applicable  to  English  and  American  as  to  Indian 
umpires.  They  are  worth  the  most  careful  study, 
and  in  connection  with  them  I  would  commend  to 
the  reader  a  reference  to  Rule  28  and  its  commentary 
on  p.  392  of  the  present  work. 


400        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 


HINTS  TO  UMPIRES 

1.  Umpires  should  endeavour  to  place  themselves  in  the 
most  advantageous  place  for  seeing  the  game,  and  apportion- 
ing the  work.  One  on  each  side  of  the  play,  level  generally 
with  the  back,  will  be  found  the  best  place  as  a  rule  for 
attaining  this  end. 

2.  By  dividing  the  ground  in  two,  both  lengthways  and 
breadthways,  each  umpire  can  take  one  back  line  and  one 
side  line. 

3.  There  is  a  tendency,  on  the  part  of  umpires,  from 
natural  causes  to  watch  only  the  play  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  ball.  For  this  reason  much  unfair  riding  by 
No.  I's,  when  in  reality  oiFside,  escapes  their  attention. 
This  may  be  obviated  by  each  umpire  keeping  under  special 
observation  the  four  players  who  happen  to  be,  at  any  given 
time,  nearest  to  his  own  back  line. 

4.  Umpires  should  have  new  balls  in  their  pockets,  with 
which  to  re-start  the  game  at  once^  if  the  ball  goes  out  of 
play.  An  umpire  will  find  it  easy  to  bowl  in  correctly,  if 
he  puts  his  horse  in  motion  in  the  direction  he  wishes  to 
bowl  the  ball. 

5.  They,  and  goal  referees,  should  blow  their  whistles 
loud  enough  for  the  time- keeper  to  hear.  This  point  is 
sometimes  forgotten. 

6.  They  should  make  up  their  minds,  and  give  their 
decisions  clearly  and  firmly,  refusing  to  enter  into  any  dis- 
cussion as  to  the  why,  or  wherefore,  of  their  decisions. 

7.  Either  umpire  should,  whether  appealed  to  or  not,  stop 
the  game  if  he  sees  a  foul,  and  award  a  penalty,  although  it 
may  have  happened  on  the  side  of  the  game  away  from  him. 
But  he  should  use  his  discretion  in  not  adjudging  a  foul,  if 


Cii   :& 


INDIAN  POLO  ASSOCIATION  RULES    401 

the  other  umpire,  nearest  to  the  incident  and  in  full  view, 
has  evidently  taken  no  objection. 

8.  They  must  bear  in  mind  that  if  they  do  not  order  off 
the  ground  any  dangerous  or  unmanageable  pony,  they  more 
or  less  make  themselves  responsible  for  any  accident  that  may 
occur  through  that  pony.  The  same  applies  in  the  case  of 
a  player  riding  dangerously  and  repeating  the  offence  after 
being  warned.  It  is  their  first  and  most  imperative  duty  to 
stop  dangerous  and  unfair  play  of  any  sort  or  kind. 

9.  The  special  attention  of  umpires  is  drawn  to  the 
following : — 

(a)  As  crosses  frequently  occur  in  the  meeting  of  the 
ball,  when  hit  out  from  the  back  line,  the  nearest 
umpire  should  place  himself  on  the  line  of  the  ball, 
produced  in  either  direction  (vUe  example). 

{h)  When  a  player  is  pursuing  an  adversary  with  intent 
to  hook  his  stick,  the  umpire  should  see  that  when 
he  does  so  he  is  on  the  same  side  as  the  ball,  or 
immediately  behind.  This  particular  breach  of 
rules  often  occurs  in  a  scrimmage  in  the  vicinity 
of  goal. 

(r)  When  a  player,  with  the  intention  of  hitting  a  back- 
hander, comes  in  at  an  angle,  on  the  line  of  the 
ball,  the  umpire  should  see  that  he  is  entitled  to 
possession,  under  Rule  28  ;  as  if  he  is  not  entitled 
to  possession  of  the  ball,  and  the  player  in  possession 
of  the  ball  has  to  check  to  avoid  a  collision,  it  is  a 
"  cross  "  (vide  example). 

(d)  In  all  doubtful  cases  of  crossing,  the  pace  at  which 
both  players  are  moving  must  be  carefully  considered^ 
as  on  this  depends  the  question  whether  the  player 
entitled  to  possession  has  to  check  to  avoid  collision. 

{e)  The  umpire  should  see  that  none  of  the  attacking 

2  D 


,.b' 


402        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

side  are  within  30  yards  of  the  back  line,  when  the 
ball  is  hit  off  from  behind. 
(f)  The  umpire  should  see  that  none  of  the  players  who 
have  been  sent  behind  their  back  line  under  Rule  17 
(/),  32  (2),  or  33,  when  the  ball  is  hit  out,  cross 
that  line  before  the  ball. 
{£)  Each  umpire  should  watch  the  position  of  the  back 
and  No.  I,  under  his  immediate  observation,  at  the 
moment  the  ball  is  hit,  either  in  front  of  or  behind 
these  two  players,  as  this  moment  deter- 
mines the  question  of  oiFside. 

A                                           X  .-' 
Wl *■ -0-' „  .1 

Example  I. — Rule  29 — Crossing  x^*' 

A  hits  the  ball  to  X.  ^^^ 

If  B  can  unques-                 ^^^           tionably  reach  the    ball 
at  X,  without                     ^^^            causing  A  to  check  to  avoid 
a  collision,                   yf              then  B  is  entitled  to  possession, 
^jftr  g         and  continuing  his  course  to  B'  take 
j^                         an  ofF-side  backhander. 
*\^B              But  if  there  is  reasonable  doubt,  then  it  is 
^          B's  duty  to  swerve  towards  B"  (the  line  of  the 
\^         ball),  and  take  a  near-side  backhander.     If, 
in  taking             "^^         that  backhander,  or  afterwards,  his  pony 
in  the  slightest        ^              degree  crosses  the  line  of  the  ball,  a 
"cross"  should            ^^-^                                              -^ 
be  given  against  him.      'O- < '<&^ 

Example  II. — Rule  29 —       ^^         Crossing 

\ 

A  hits  the  ball  out  from  ^^        behind  to  X. 

B  rides  to  meet  it,  and  C  to  ^\  take  it  on. 

A  collision  is  imminent  between  )^r  B  and  C  at  X. 

B  must  be  given  way  ^v 

to,  because  he  is  on  the  ^~0  o 


line  on  which  the   ball   travelled,  even  though  coming  in  an 
opposite  direction,  whereas  C  would  cross  that  line. 


INDIAN  POLO  ASSOCIATION  RULES    403 

The  more  we  study  these  "  hints  "  the  more  we 
shall  learn  of  the  duty  of  the  umpire. 

For  example,  hint  No.  3  touches  on  a  common 
failing  of  umpires.  This  weakness  leads  to  a  good 
many  cases  of  offside  being  chanced  by  unscrupulous 
forward  players.  It  might  almost  be  said  that  the 
umpire  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  ball,  it  is  so  much 
the  most  important  part  of  his  duty  to  watch  the 
players. 

No.  4  is  to  be  interpreted  by  Rule  17  (^),  which 
directs  that  the  ball  is  to  be  bowled  in  underhand. 

Other  points  there  are,  especially  that  in  No.  7,  the 
emphasising  of  the  rule  that  umpires  are  to  interfere 
whether  an  appeal  is  made  to  them  or  not.  There  is 
a  tendency  in  all  men,  from  which  umpires  are  not 
exempt,  to  follow  the  line  of  least  resistance.  There- 
fore many  of  them  seldom  or  never  blow  the  whistle 
until  they  are  appealed  to.  Some  people  think,  how- 
ever, that  the  opposing  sides  should  not  be  allowed  to 
appeal  at  all  to  the  umpire,  but  that  the  umpire  should 
in  every  case  take  the  responsibility.  This  would  be 
desirable,  but  it  would  perhaps  be  difficult  to  carry  out 
in  practice.  In  any  case,  in  both  countries,  as  the  game 
becomes  stricter  and  more  scientific,  more  and  more 
responsibility  must  be  thrown  on  the  umpire.  An 
umpire  is  probably  mistaken  if  he  inflicts  a  penalty 
for  a  foul  or  offside  that  he  has  not  seen  and  noted 
with  his  own  eyes.  Again,  in  No.  9  (J?)  the  necessity 
of  keeping  his  eyes  open  to  unfair  use  of  the  stick 
in  scrimmages  is  noted.  It  is  not  only  that  accidents 
sometimes  happen,  but  that  unfair  use  of  the  stick  is 


404        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

very  common.  For  example,  in  1904  I  saw  a  most 
important  stroke  stopped  in  a  first-class  match  by 
a  player  reaching  over  a  pony  and  crooking  the  stick 
in  direct  defiance  of  rules  both  in  the  English  and 
Indian  codes. 

With  some  very  slight  alterations  these  "  hints  " 
might  be  incorporated  into  our  code  of  rules,  some 
as  laws  of  the  game,  and  others  as  helps  to  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  rules. 

The  strong  point  in  these  rules  is  that  they  are 
precisely  worded,  and  careful  to  include  in  the  rules 
of  polo  all  those  details  of  management  and  discipline 
which  are  necessary.  Rules  of  this  kind  add  nothing 
to  the  complexity  of  a  code,  but  give  official  position 
to  umpires,  referees,  and  timekeepers,  and  add 
authority  to  their  offices  and  decisions. 


APPENDIX 


d05 


HURLINGHAM  CLUB 
POLO  COMMITTEE 

(Nominated  by  the  Hurlingham  Club) 

The  Governing  Body  of  the  Game,  elected  1903 

(This  is  not  the  existing  Committee,  1905,  but  it  is  to  the  Committee  of 
1903  that  we  owe  the  last  important  revision  of  the  Rules.)  ^ 


Viscount  Valentia,  M.P.,  Chairman. 

W.  S.  BUCKMASTIR. 

Captain  G.  Fitzgerald. 
F.  M.  Freake. 


Earl  of  Harrington. 
Major  C.  Peters. 
A.  Rawlinson. 
Captain  W.  G.  Renton. 


J.  Watson. 

REPRESENTATIVE  MEMBERS 

COUNTY  POLO  ASSOCIATION 

C.  AdAMTHWAITE.  I  TrESHAM    GlLBEV. 

G.  H.  PiLKINGTON. 

ARMY  POLO  COMMITTEE 

Lieut.-Colonel  Fenwick,  M.V.O.,  D.S.O.,  R.H.G. 
Major  H.  N.  Schofield,  V.C,  R.H.A. 

RANELAGH  CLUB 
(No  appointment  made.) 

ROEHAMPTON  CLUB 
Captain  E.  D.  Miller,  D.S.O. 

^  Alterations  subsequent  to  1903  are  printed  in  italics. 
407 


4o8        POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

OFFICIALS  OF  THE  HURLINGHAM  CLUB 

Major  F.  Egerton  Grein,  Manager. 

G.  L.  St.  Quintin,  Assistant  Manager  for  Polo. 

Captain  F.  Blacker,  znd  Assistant  Manager  for  Polo. 

HURLINGHAM   RULES   AND   REGULATIONS 

Height, 

1.  The  height  of  ponies  shall  not  exceed  14  hands  2  ins., 
and  no  pony  shall  be  played  either  in  practice  games  or  matches 
unless  it  has  been  registered  in  accordance  with  the  Rules  of 
Measurement.     (Penalty  9.) 

Unsafe  Pony. 

2.  No  pony  showing  vice  or  not  under  proper  control  shall 
be  allowed  in  the  game.     (Penalty  10.) 

Ground. 

3.  The  goals  to  be  not  less  than  250  yds.  apart,  and  each 
goal  to  be  8  yds.  wide. 

A  full-sized  ground  should  not  exceed  300  yds.  in  length  by 
200  yds.  in  width,  if  unboarded  ;  and  300  yds.  in  length  and 
160  yds.  in  width  if  boarded. 

Size  and  Weight  of  Balls. 

4.  The  size  of  the  balls  shall  not  exceed  3J  in.  in  diameter, 
and  the  weight  of  the  ball  shall  not  exceed  5  J  oz. 

Umpire.     Referee. 

5.  Each  side  shall  nominate  an  umpire,  unless  it  be  mutually 
agreed  to  play  with  one  instead  of  two  ;  and  his  or  their  decisions 
shall  be  final.  In  important  matches,  in  addition  to  the  umpires 
a  referee  may  be  appointed,  whose  decision  in  the  event  of  the 
umpires  disagreeing  shall  be  final. 

Whistle.      Umpire.     Referee. 

6.  The  umpire  shall  carry  a  whistle,  which  he  shall  use  as 
required.     If  the  umpire  blow  his  whistle  the  ball  is  dead,  but 


APPENDIX  409 

if  the  other  umpire  disagrees,  a  referee  shall  be  called  in,  who, 
after  consulting  both  umpires  and  taking  any  necessary  evidence, 
shall  decide  on  the  course  to  be  pursued.  Any  infringement  of 
the  Rules  constitutes  a  foul.  In  case  of  an  infringement  of 
Rules  20,  21,  22,  24,  25,  27,  28,  29,  and  30,  the  umpire  shall 
stop  the  game  ;  and  in  the  case  of  an  infringement  of  Rule  26 
the  umpire  shall  stop  the  game  on  an  appeal  by  any  one  of  the 
side  which  has  been  fouled. 

Time-keeper  and  Scorer. 

7.  An  official  time-keeper  and  scorer  shall  be  employed  in 
all  games  and  matches. 

Number  of  Flayers. 

8.  The  number  of  players  contending  is  limited  to  four  a- 
side  in  all  games  and  matches. 

How  Game  Commences. 

9.  The  game  commences  by  both  sides  taking  up  their 
position  in  the  middle  of  the  ground,  and  the  umpire  throwing 
the  ball  into  the  centre  of  the  ground  between  the  opposing 
ranks  of  players. 

Duration  of  Play. 

10.  The  duration  of  play  in  a  match  shall  be  one  hour, 
divided  into  six  periods  of  ten  minutes  each,  with  an  interval  of 
three  minutes  after  each  period  except  the  third  {half-time').,  when  the 
interval  shall  be  five  minutes. 

Excess  Time. 
The  five  first  periods  of  play  shall  terminate  as  soon  as  the 
ball  goes  out  of  play  after  the  expiration  of  the  prescribed  time  ; 
any  excess  of  time  in  any  of  these  periods,  due  to  the  ball  re- 
maining in  play,  being  deducted  from  the  succeeding  period. 

Last  Period. 

The  last  period  shall  terminate  although  the  ball  is  still  in 
play  at  the  first  stroke  of  the  final  bell,  wherever  the  ball  may 
be. 


41  o        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Exception. 

In  case  of  a  tie  the  last  period  shall  be  prolonged  till  the  ball 
goes  out  of  play,  and  if  still  a  tie,  after  an  interval  of  five 
minutes,  the  ball  shall  be  started  from  where  it  went  out  of 
play,  and  the  game  continued,  in  periods  of  ten  minutes,  with 
the  usual  intervals,  until  one  side  obtain  a  goal,  which  shall 
determine  the  match. 

BeiL 

11.  The  bell  shall  be  rung  to  signify  to  the  players  that  the 
ten  minutes  has  expired,  and  it  shall  be  rung  again  when  the 
ball  next  goes  out  of  play,  to  indicate  the  time  for  changing 
ponies. 

Changing  Ponies. 

12.  With  the  exception  of  the  intervals  allowed  in  Rule  lo, 
play  shall  be  continuous ;  any  change  of  ponies,  except  according 
to  the  above  provisions,  shall  be  at  the  risk  of  the  player. 

Ball  Hit  Behind  by  Attacking  Side. 

13.  If  the  ball  be  hit  behind  the  back  line  by  one  of  the 
opposite  side,  it  shall  be  hit  off  without  delay  from  where  it 
crossed  the  line,  but  at  least  12  feet  from  the  goal-post,  after  giving 
the  opposing  side  reasonable  time  to  get  to  the  30  yds.  line. 
None  of  the  attacking  side  shall  be  within  30  yds.  of  the  back 
line  when  the  ball  is  hit  off.     (Penalty  5.) 

Unnecessary  Delay. 
N.B. — There  must  be  no  unnecessary  delay.     (Penalty  6.) 

Ball  Hit  Behind  by  Defending  Side. 

14.  If  the  ball  be  hit  behind  the  back  line  by  one  of  the 
defending  side.  Penalty  4  shall  be  exacted,  provided  the  ball 
does  not  glance  off  another  player  or  another  pony.     (Penalty  4.) 

Ball  Thrown  In  by  Umpire. 

15.  When  the  ball  is  hit  out,  it  must  be  thrown  into  the 
ground  by  the  umpire  from  the  exact  spot  where  it  went  out,  in 
a  direction   parallel   to    the   two  goal  -  lines,  and  between   the 


APPENDIX  411 

opposing  ranks  of  players.     There  must  be  no  delay  whatsoever 
or  any  consideration  for  absent  players. 

Ball  Out, 

16.  The  ball  must  go  over  and  clear  of  the  boundary  line 
to  be  out. 

Goals, 

17.  A  goal  is  gained  when  a  ball  passes  between  the  goal- 
posts, and  over  the  goal-line.  If  a  ball  is  hit  above  the  top  of 
the  goal-posts,  but  in  the  opinion  of  the  umpire,  between  those 
posts  produced,  it  shall  be  deemed  a  goal. 

To  Win  Game, 

18.  The  side  that  makes  most  goals  wins  the  game. 

Ends  Changed. 

19.  Ends  shall  be  changed  after  every  goal,  or  if  no  goal 
have  been  obtained,  after  the  third  period. 

Riding  Out  an  Antagonist.     Crossing. 

20.  A  player  may  ride  out  an  antagonist,  or  interpose  his 
pony  before  his  antagonist,  so  as  to  prevent  the  latter  reaching 
the  ball,  but  he  may  not  cross  another  player  in  possession  of  the 
ball,  except  at  such  a  distance  that  the  said  player  shall  not  be 
compelled  to  check  his  pony  to  avoid  a  collision.     (Penalty  i.) 

Definition  of  Crossing. 

If  two  players  are  riding  from  different  directions  to  hit  the 
ball,  and  a  collision  appears  probable,  then  the  player  in  posses- 
sion of  the  ball  (that  is,  who  last  hit  the  ball,  or,  if  neither  have 
hit  the  ball,  the  player  who  is  coming  from  the  direction  from 
which  the  ball  was  last  hit)  must  be  given  way  to.     (Penalty  i.) 

Exact  Line  of  the  Ball. 
(i)  Any  player  who  follows  the  exact  line  of  the  ball  from 
the  direction  from  which  it  has  been  last  hit,  is  in  possession 
of  the    ball    rather  than    any  player   coming  from   any  other 
direction. 


412 


POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 


Last  Striker. 

The  last  striker  is  in  possession  provided  that  no  other  player 
can,  without  causing  the  striker  to  check  his  pony  to  avoid  a 
collision,  get  on  the  line  of  the  ball  in  front  of  him.  Under 
these  circumstances  the  last  striker  may  not  ride  into  the  adver- 
sary from  behind,  but  must  if  necessary  take  the  ball  on  the  near 
side  of  his  own  pony. 

Last  Striker. 

No  player  shall  be  deemed  to  be  in  possession  of  the  ball  by 
reason  of  his  being  the  last  striker  if  he  shall  have  deviated  from 
pursuing  the  exact  course  of  the  ball. 

Riding  to  Meet  the  Ball. 

(2)  Any  player  who  rides  to  meet  the  ball  on  the  exact  line 
of  its  course  is  in  possession  rather  than  any  other  player  riding 
at  an  angle  from  any  direction. 

Riding  at  an  Angle. 

(3)  Any  player  riding  from  the  direction  from  which  the  ball 
has  last  been  hit,  at  an  angle  to  its  course,  has  possession  rather 
than  any  player  riding  at  an  angle  in  the  opposite  direction. 

Riding  in  Same  Direction, 

(4)  If  two  players  are  riding  from  the  same  direction,  that 
player  is  in  possession  whose  course  is  at  the  smallest  angle  to 
the  line  of  the  ball. 

Left-handed  Players. 

(5)  If  two  players  are  riding  from  opposite  directions  to  hit 
the  ball,  one  of  these  being  a  left-handed  player,  the  latter  must 
give  way. 

N.B. — The  line  of  the  ball  is  the  line  of  its  course  or  that  line 
produced  at  the  moment  any  question  arises. 

Dangerous  Riding. 

21.  No  player  shall  ride  dangerously.     (Penalty  i.) 

Dangerous  Use  of  Stick. 

22.  No  player  shall  use  his  stick  dangerously.     (Penalty  i.) 


APPENDIX  413 

23.  In  the  case  of  a  player  being  disabled  by  a  foul,  Penalty  8 
may  be  exacted  by  the  side  that  has  been  fouled,  and  Penalty  i 
shall  be  exacted  in  any  case.     (Penalties  i  and  8.) 

Rough  Play. 

24.  No  player  shall  seize  with  the  hand,  strike,  or  push  with 
the  head,  hand,  arm,  or  elbow,  but  a  player  may  push  with  his 
arm,  above  the  elbow,  provided  the  elbow  be  kept  close  to  his 
side.     (Penalty  i  or  2  or  3.) 

Dangerous  Rough  Play. 
N.B. — Penalty  i  shall  only  be  exacted  if  the  umpire  considers 
the  play  dangerous. 

Crooking  Sticks. 

25.  No  player  shall  crook  an  adversary's  stick,  unless  he  is  on 
the  same  side  of  an  adversary's  pony  as  the  ball,  or  in  a  direct 
line  behind,  and  his  stick  is  neither  over  or  under  the  body  nor 
across  the  legs  of  an  adversary's  pony.  The  stick  may  not  be 
crooked  unless  an  adversary  is  in  the  act  of  striking  at  the  ball. 

Striking  Across  an  Adversary's  Pony. 
When  two  players  are  riding  abreast,  no  player  shall  strike  at 
the  ball  over  or  under  the  body  or  across  the  legs  of  an  adver- 
sary's pony.  A  player  who  deliberately  rides  his  pony  up  to  an 
adversary  who  is  in  possession  of  and  striking  at  the  ball,  or  who 
deliberately  rides  his  pony  over  the  ball  to  prevent  an  adversary 
striking  at  it,  does  so  at  his  own  risk.      (Penalty  2  or  3.) 

Offside. 

26.  No  player  who  is  offside  shall  hit  the  ball,  or  shall  in 
any  way  prevent  the  opposite  side  from  reaching  or  hitting  the 
ball.     (Penalty  2  or  3.) 

Definition  of  Offside. 

A  player  is  offside  when  at  the  time  of  the  ball  being  hit  he 

has  no  one  of  the  opposite  side  nearer  the  adversaries'  goal-line, 

or  that  line  produced,  or  behind  that  line,  and  he  is  neither  in 

possession  of  the  ball  nor  behind  one  of  his  own  side  who  is  in 


414        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

possession  of  the  ball.  The  goal-line  means  the  eight-yards  line 
between  the  goal -posts.  A  player,  if  offside,  remains  offside 
until  the  ball  is  hit  or  hit  at  again. 

Carrying  Ball. 
zj,  A  player  may  not  carry  the  ball.     In  the  event  of  the  ball 
lodging  upon  or  against  a  player  or  pony,  it  must  be  immediately 
dropped  to  the  ground.     (Penalty  2  or  3.) 

Striking  Pony  with  Head  of  Polo  Stick. 

28.  No  player  shall  intentionally  strike  his  pony  with  the 
head  of  his  polo  stick.     (Penalty  2  or  3.) 

Broken  Sticks. 

29.  Should  a  player's  stick  be  broken,  he  must  borrow  one 
from  one  of  his  own  side,  or  ride  to  the  place  where  sticks  are 
kept  and  take  one.  In  the  event  of  a  stick  being  dropped  he 
must  either  pick  it  up  himself,  borrow  one  from  one  of  his  own 
side,  or  ride  to  the  place  where  sticks  are  kept  and  take  one.  On 
no  account  may  a  stick  be  brought  on  to  the  ground.     (Penalty 

2  or  3.) 

Dismounted  Player. 

30.  No  dismounted  player  is  allowed  to  hit  the  ball  or  inter- 
fere in  the  game.     (Penalty  2  or  3.) 

Throwing  in  Ball. 

31.  If  the  ball  be  damaged,  the  umpire  shall  at  his  dis- 
cretion stop  the  game,  and  throw  in  a  new  ball  at  the  place 
where  it  was  broken,  towards  the  nearest  side  of  the  ground,  in 
a  direction  parallel  to  the  two  goal-lines  and  between  the  oppos- 
ing ranks  of  players. 

N.B. — It  is  desirable  that  the  game  shall  be  stopped  and  the 
ball  changed  when  the  damaged  ball  is  in  such  a  position  that 
neither  side  is  favoured  thereby. 

Absent  Player, 

32.  If  a  player  leaves  the  game  in  order  to  change  a  pony,  or 
to  get  a  fresh  stick,  or  for  any  other  purpose,  the  penalty  for  off- 


APPENDIX  415 

side  cannot  be  exacted  against  the  opposing  side  until  the  return 
of  the  player  into  the  game. 

Ground  Kept  Clear. 

33.  No  person  allowed  within  the  arena — players,  umpires, 
referee,  and  manager  excepted. 

Accidents. 

34.  {a)  If  a  player  or  a  pony  be  injured  by  a  fall  or  any  other 
accident,  the  umpire  shall  stop  the  game,  and  allow  time  for  the 
injured  man  or  pony  to  be  replaced. 

(^)  If  a  player  or  a  pony  falls  through  that  player  or  that 
pony's  fault,  the  umpire  shall  not  stop  the  game,  unless  he  is 
satisfied  that  the  player  or  pony  is  hurt. 

Where  Ball  Thrown  In. 

N.B. — On  play  being  resumed,  the  ball  shall  be  thrown  in 
where  it  was  when  the  game  was  stopped,  and  in  the  manner 
provided  for  in  Rule  15. 

Spurs  and  Blinkers. 

35.  No  blinkers,  or  spurs  with  rowels  are  allowed  ;  no  pony 
blind  of  an  eye  is  allowed  to  play. 

Foul  at  End  of  Match. 

36.  In  the  case  of  a  foul  occurring  at  the  end  of  a  match  and 
there  not  being  time  to  exact  the  penalty  before  the  final  bell 
rings,  "  one  minute  extra  shall  be  allowed  "  from  the  time  the 
ball  is  hit  or  hit  at  in  carrying  out  the  penalty. 

Substitutes  in  Tournaments. 

'i^'j.  In  tournaments  if  a  player  having  taken  part  in  the 
tournament  for  any  reason  be  unable  to  play,  he  may,  with  the 
consent  of  the  committee  of  the  club  where  the  tournament  is 
held,  be  replaced  by  any  player  who  by  the  rules  of  the  tourna- 
ment is  qualified,  provided  the  said  player  has  not  already 
competed  in  another  team. 


41 6        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Disregard  of  Umpire, 

38.  The  decisions  and  injunctions  of  the  umpire  must  not  be 
disregarded  or  questioned.     (Penalty  7.) 

Incidents  Not  Provided  For. 

39.  Should  any  incident  or  question,  not  provided  for  in 
these  Rules,  arise,  such  incident  or  question  shall  be  decided  by 
the  umpire  or  umpires.  If  the  umpires  disagree  a  referee  shall 
be  called  in,  whose  decision  shall  be  final. 

PENALTIES. 

Penalty  i. 
A  free  "  hit  at "  the  ball  from  a  spot  60  yards  from  the  goal-line 
of  the  side  fouling,  opposite  the  centre  of  goal,  or  if  preferred, 
from  where  the  foul  occurred  ;  all  the  side  fouling  to  be  behind 
their  back  line  until  the  ball  is  hit  or  hit  at,  but  not  between 
the  goal-posts,  nor  when  the  ball  is  brought  into  play  may  any 
of  the  side  ride  out  from  between  the  goal-posts.  None  of  the 
side  fouled  to  be  nearer  the  goal-line  produced  than  the  ball  is 
at  the  moment  it  is  hit  or  hit  at.  (See  Rules  20,  21,  22,  23, 
and  24.) 

Penalty  2. 

A  free  "hit  at"  the  ball  from  where  it  was  when  the  foul 
took  place,  none  of  the  side  fouling  to  be  within  20  yards  of 
the  ball,  the  side  fouled  being  free  to  place  themselves  where 
they  choose. 

Penalty  3. 

The  side  fouling  take  the  ball  back  and  hit  it  off  from  behind 
their  own  goal-line  between  the  posts,  none  of  fouled  side  to  be 
within  30  yards  of  the  goal-line  produced,  the  side  fouling  being 
free  to  place  themselves  where  they  choose.  (For  Penalties  2 
and  3,  see  Rules  24,  25,  26,  27,  28,  29,  and  30.) 

Penalty  4. 
A  free  "hit  at"  the  ball,  from  a  spot  opposite  where  the  ball 
was  hit  behind  and  60  yards  distant  from  the  "  goal-line   pro- 
duced," none  of  the  side  fouling  to  be  within  20  yards  of  the 


APPENDIX  417 

ball,    the    side    fouled    being   free    to    place    themselves  where 
they  choose.     (See  Rule  14.) 

Penalty  5. 
At  the  umpire's  discretion  a  second  free  hit  in  the  case  of 
Rule   13  and  Penalty  3  being  infringed,    and    in    cases    when 
Penalties  i,  2,  and  4  are  infringed,  a  second  free  "hit  at"  the 
ball.     (See  Rule  13,  and  Penalties  i,  2,  3,  and  4.) 

Penalty  6. 
In  the  event  of  unnecessary  delay  in  hitting  out  the  ball, 
the  umpire  shall  call  on  the  offending  side  to  hit  out  at  once  ; 
if  the  umpire's  request  is  not  complied  with,  he  shall  bowl  in  the 
ball  underhand  at  the  spot  where  the  ball  crossed  the  back  line 
at  right  angles  to  the  goal-line  or  "  goal-line  produced,"  as  hard 
as  possible.  In  this  case  the  penalty  for  an  offside  shall  not  be 
claimed  against  the  attacking  side  should  no  one  of  the  defend- 
ing side  be  between  them  and  the  goal-line  produced,  or  behind 
that  line.     (See  Rule  13.) 

Penalty  7. 
The  offender  warned  off  the  ground  for  remainder  of  match, 
no  substitute  allowed  to  take  his  place.     (See  Rule  38.) 

Penalty  8. 
Designation  of  any  of  the  players  on  the  side  fouling  who 
shall  retire  from  the  game.     The  game  shall  be  continued  with 
three  players  a-side,  and  if  the  side  fouling  refuse  to  continue 
the  game,  it  shall  thereby  lose  the  match.     (See  Rule  23.) 

Penalty  9. 
Disqualification  of  team  offending.     (See  Rule  i.) 

Penalty  10. 
The  pony  ordered  off  the  ground.     (See  Rule  2.) 

HURLINGHAM  BYE-LAWS. 
I.  The  composition  of  the  Hurlingham  Polo  Committee,  all 
of  whom  must  be  members  of  Hurlingham  Club,  is  as  follows  : — 

2  E 


41 8        POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Permanent  Chairman,  and  eight  members  of  Hurlingham  Club, 
three  members  nominated  by  County  Polo  Association,  two  by 
Army  Polo  Committee,  one  by  the  Ranelagh  Club,i  and  one  by 
the  Roehampton  Club.  Four  of  the  eight  Hurlingham  Club 
Committee  members  shall  retire  in  rotation  on  ist  August  of 
every  year,  and  shall  be  eligible  for  re-election  by  the  Polo 
members  of  the  Club.  Any  member  of  the  Club,  if  properly 
proposed  and  seconded  by  members  of  the  Club,  is  eligible  for 
election,  which  election  shall  take  place  before  the  15th  July. 

2.  The  County  Polo  Association,  the  Army  Polo  Committee, 
and  the  Roehampton  Club  shall  nominate  the  members  to  repre- 
sent them  for  the  current  year  by  the  ist  of  January  of  each 
year. 

3.  In  order  that  all  members  may  play  during  the  afternoon, 
the  Manager  shall  have  power  to  shorten  the  time,  and  stop  the 
match  or  game  at  the  appointed  hour.  If  a  match  is  timed  to 
commence  at  4,  5.20  shall  be  the  time  at  which  it  may  be 
stopped. 

4.  On  ordinary  days,  in  case  of  a  match  taking  place  before 
the  members'  game,  such  match  must  finish  at  5,  unless  by 
special  leave  from  the  Committee.  This  does  not  apply  to  the 
tie  games  in  Cup  Competitions. 

5.  Members  arriving  first  on  the  ground  ready  to  play  to  be 
allowed  precedence  in  members'  games. 

6.  If,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Manager,  either  ground  is  in  a 
fit  state  for  play,  it  shall  be  opened  for  not  less  than  six  players, 
at  3  o'clock  each  day.  Each  set  of  players  shall  be  allowed  the 
use  of  the  ground  for  20  minutes.  All  play  shall  cease  and  the 
ground  shall  be  cleared  by  7.15  p.m. 

7.  The  colours  of  the  Hurlingham  Club  shall  be  light  blue 
shirts.  The  second  colours  white  and  red.  In  members' 
matches  every  player  shall  wear  a  white  shirt  or  jersey,  the 
sides  being  distinguished  by  red  and  blue  waistcoats,  supplied  by 
the  Manager. 

^  No  appointment  made. 


APPENDIX 


HURLINGHAM    RULES   OF   MEASUREMENT^ 


419 


1.  The  measurement  shall  be  made  by  an  Official  Measurer 
under  the  supervision  of  the  Polo  Committee.  Such  Official 
Measurer  shall  be  appointed  by  the  Committee,  and  shall  be  a 
duly  qualified  Veterinary  Surgeon. 

2.  The  Official  Measurer  shall  attend  for  the  purpose  of 
measuring  ponies  on  the  first  day  in  the  season  on  which  the 
ground  is  open  for  play,  and  on  certain  subsequent  days  which 
shall  be  advertised  in  due  course. 

3.  The  person  presenting  a  pony  for  measurement  shall  fill 
up  and  sign  a  form,  supplied  by  the  Club,  containing  particulars 
and  a  description  of  the  pony,  and  shall  pay  to  the  Manager  at 
Hurlingham,  and  to  the  Official  Measurer  at  other  places,  a  fee 
of  I  OS.  before  the  pony  can  be  measured. 

4.  Ponies  aged  five  years  and  upwards  may  be  measured  and 
registered  for  life  ;  ponies  under  five  years  can  be  registered  for 
the  current  season  only.  The  Official  Measurer  shall  determine 
the  age  of  the  pony. 

5.  A  pony  shall  not  be  measured  if  he  appears  to  have  been 
subjected  to  any  improper  treatment  vv^ith  a  view  to  reduce  his 
height,  or  if  he  is  in  an  unfit  state  to  be  measured.  If  a  pony 
is  rejected  under  this  Rule  he  shall  not  be  presented  again  for 
measurement  until  the  following  season. 

6.  The  measurement  shall  be  made  with  a  standard  approved 
by  the  Club,  and  in  a  box  with  a  level  floor  specially  erected 
for  the  purpose. 

7.  Neither  the  owner  of  the  pony  nor  his  servant  shall  on 
any  account  enter  the  box  during  the  measurement,  nor  shall 
any  other  person  be  admitted  unless  specially  authorised  by  the 
Official  Measurer  ;  but  members  of  the  Polo  Committee  shall 
have  a  right  to  attend  the  measurement  when  their  own  ponies 
are  not  being  measured. 

8.  The  pony  shall  stand  stripped  on  the  level  floor,  and  the 
measurement  shall  be  made  at  the  highest  point  of  the  withers. 

1  It  is  intended  to  alter  these  Rules  so  far  as  to  prevent  the  fraudulent 
Tcmeasurement  and  re-registration  of  ponies  under  altered  conditions.  The 
penalty  will  probably  be  warning  off  the  offender. 


420        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

9.  The  pony  shall  be  held  by  a  person  deputed  by  the 
Official  Measurer. 

10.  The  head  shall  be  so  held  that  a  line  from  the  poll  to 
the  withers  would  be  parallel  to  the  floor. 

1 1 .  The  forelegs  from  the  point  of  the  shoulder,  and  the 
hind-legs  from  the  back  downwards,  shall  be  as  perpendicular 
to  the  floor  and  as  parallel  to  each  other  as  the  conformation  of 
the  horse  allows. 

12.  The  wither  may  be  shaved,  but  the  mane  must  not  be 
pylled  down,  or  the  skin  of  the  neck  or  wither  in  any  way 
interfered  with. 

13.  Ponies  may  be  measured  with  or  without  shoes,  but  no 
allowance  shall  be  made. 

14.  Any  person  who  is  dissatisfied  with  the  determination 
arrived  at  may,  by  a  written  application,  presented  to  the 
Manager  within  seven  days  from  the  time  of  measurement,  apply 
for  a  re-measurement.  Such  re-measurement  shall  take  place 
in  the  presence  of  one  member  of  the  Polo  Committee,  and  on 
the  first  convenient  day  which  may  be  appointed,  and  his  decision 
shall  be  final. 

MEASURING   INFORMATION 

Polo  ponies  are  measured  at  Hurlingham,  at  local  centres,  and 
at  Tattersall's. 

Every  application  for  measurement  of  ponies  must  in  the  first 
instance  be  made  to  the  Manager,  Hurlingham  Club. 

The  fee  for  measuring  each  pony  is  los.  (except  at 
Tattersall's),  payable  before  the  pony  enters  the  measuring-box.^ 

A  Return  of  Polo  Ponies  form,  to  be  obtained  from  the 
Manager,  Hurlingham  Club,  must  be  carefully  and  legibly  filled 

1  In  accordance  with  the  request  of  the  County  Polo  Association  the  follow- 
ing has  been  added  to  the  rules  :  "  That  if  an  affiliated  club  pay  the  sum  of 
£^  :  5s.  and  the  Official  Measurer's  first-class  return  fare,  the  Hurlingham  Club 
will  register  at  2s.  6d.  each  all  ponies  belonging  to  members  of  such  affiliated 
club  and  measured  by  Official  Measurer  on  such  an  occasion.  (2)  The  issue  of 
the  register  on  February  ist  annually.  (3)  The  provision  of  an  index  to  such 
issue  of  the  register  showing  number,  name,  and  owner  of  a  pony,  and  the  place 
at  which  it  was  registered. 


APPENDIX  421 

in  by  the  secretary  of  the  club,  or  person  deputed  by  him  to 
superintend  the  measuring,  wherever  the  measuring  may  be 
done. 

The  pony  must  have  a  name. 

Measurements  at  Hurlingham, 

The  attendance  of  the  Official  Measurer  at  Hurlingham  is 
arranged  as  soon  as  a  sufficient  number  of  applications  for 
measurement  is  received  to  justify  such  attendance.  The  date 
and  hour  of  such  attendance  is  advertised  in  the  Morning  Post, 
on  the  front  page,  third  column  from  the  left.  The  hour  is 
usually  1 1  a.m. 

Measurements  at  Local  Centres, 

Attendance  of  the  Official  Measurer  at  local  centres  may  be 
arranged  provided  that  enough  ponies  can  be  collected  for 
measurement.  The  arrangements  are  made  with  the  Manager, 
Hurlingham  Club. 

The  following  are  the  requirements  at  local  centres  : — 
(i)  A  shed,  stable,  harness-room,  coach-house,  or  large  loose- 
box,  in  a  quiet  or  retired  situation,  with  a  perfectly  level  floor  of 
concrete,  asphalt,  or  cement ;  capable  of  being  closed,  but  suffici- 
ently lighted. 

(2)  An  intelligent  man  to  hold  the  ponies'  heads. 

(3)  The  shoes  removed  from  such  ponies  as  require  it.  (See 
Rule  13.) 

(4)  That  the  fee,  the  form  of  application  duly  filled  in,  and 
the  pony's  name,  should  not  be  forgotten  by  the  groom  in 
charge. 

(5)  A  small  table,  chair,  ink,  pen,  blotting  paper,  a  halter, 
and  a  broom  should  be  supplied. 

(6)  That  the  Official  Measurer  be  informed  if  he  will  be 
met  at  the  station  or  have  to  hire  a  cab,  that  he  be  supplied 
with  the  name  of  the  gentleman  responsible  for  the  arrangements, 
and  the  exact  address  of  the  measuring  place. 

(7)  That  the  ponies  be  punctually  assembled  at  the  hour 
arranged. 


422        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Measurements  at  TattersalPs. 

Messrs.  Tattersall  permit  ponies  entered  for  sale  in  their 
catalogue  to  be  measured  at  Albert  Gate.  Permission  must 
also  be  obtained  of  the  Manager,  Hurlingham  Club. 

Arrangements  as  to  the  day  and  hour  may  be  made  by 
communicating  direct  with  the  Official  Measurer — 

Mr.  Charles  Sheather,  F.R.C.V.S., 
50A  York  Terrace, 

Regent's  Park, 

London,  N.W. 
Telegrams: — "Curative,  London."  Telephone — 35  Paddington. 
Fee  ;^i  each  pony,  to  be  paid  to  the  Official  Measurer. 
Attention  is  directed  to  Nos.  5,  7,  12,  and  13  of  the  Rules 
of  Measurement,  which  are  strictly  adhered  to.  Among  the 
conditions  which  may  cause  a  pony  to  be  "in  an  unfit  state  to 
be  measured  "  are  palpable  lameness  ;  tenderness  of  the  withers, 
with  or  without  broken  skin  ;  purgation  ;  illness ;  exhaustion  ; 
unnaturally  poor  condition  ;  excitement,  or  exposure  of  sensitive 
structures  of  feet  from  over-paring. 

HURLINGHAM   RECENT   FORM   LIST 

[Compiled  February  1905.) 
The  Hurlingham  Club  having  been  requested  by  the  County 
Polo  Association  and  others  to  tabulate  a  list  of  players  whom 
they  consider  on  "recent  form"  should  be  "barred  "  under  the 
conditions  of  certain  restricted  competitions,  has  submitted  the 
following  list  : — 


Major  G.  K.  Ansell. 
W.  S.  Buckmaster. 
Major  F.  Egerton  Green. 
F.  M.  Freake. 
Capt.  G.  B.  Gosling. 
Capt.  Neil  Haig. 
Capt.  G.  Heseltinc. 
W.  Jones. 
Capt.  H.  Lloyd. 
H.  Scott  Robion. 
H.  Rich. 
Ulric  Thynne. 
Colonel  Renton. 
Capt.  H.  Lloyd. 


Capt.  L.  C.  D.  Tenner. 

Mr.  F.  A.  Gill. 

Capt.  Hon.  D.  Marjoribanks. 

Capt.  E.  D.  Miller, 

G.  A.  Miller. 

C.  D.  Miller. 

P.  W.  Nickalls. 

G.  P.  Nickalls. 

M.  Nickalls. 

A.  Rawlinson. 

Capt.  H.  Wilson. 

Capt.  J.  L.  Wood. 

M.  Raoul  Duval. 


APPENDIX  423 


RANELAGH  CLUB 
POLO  COMMITTEE  (1904-5) 


Major    S.    L.    Barry,    D.S.O.    (loth 

Hussars). 
Captain    P.    B.    Cookson    (ist    Life 

Guards). 
Captain    G.    J.    Fitzgerald     (Royal 

Horse  Guards). 
The  Earl  of  Harrington. 
Major  R.  Hoare  (4th  Hussars). 
Lieut.-Col.  H.  de  B.  de  Lisle,  C.B., 

D.S.O.  (ist  (Royal)  Dragoons). 


Major  The   Earl  of  Longford  (2nd 

Life  Guards). 
Major    G.    F.    Milner,    D.S.O.    (ist 

Life  Guards). 
Col.  W.  G.  Renton. 
E.  B.  Sheppard,  Esq. 
Sir  H.  de  Trafford,  Bart. 
Major  John  Vaughan,  D.S.O.  (loth 

Hussars). 
Captain  J.  L.  Wood,  D.S.O.  (late  i8th 

(Princess  of  Wales')  Hussars). 


yoint  Polo  Managers. 
F.  A.  Gill,  Esq.  |  Capt.  L.  C.  D.  Jennkr. 

POLO  BYE-LAWS  OF  THE  RANELAGH  CLUB 

1.  The  Polo  Managers  alone  shall  decide  if  the  grounds  are 
fit  for  play. 

2.  The  Polo  Manager  may  substitute  another  player  for  any 
member  not  on  the  ground  at  the  time  his  match  is  advertised 
to  commence. 

3.  Members  and  visitors  are  requested  not  to  knock  the  balls 
about  on  the  polo  ground  by  way  of  practising.  A  practice 
ground  is  provided  for  this  purpose. 

4.  No  player  who  is  not  a  member  of  Ranelagh,  or  an  Officer 
of  the  Army  or  Navy,  is  eligible  to  play  in  any  match  or  tourna- 
ment, with  the  exception  of  the  Open  Cup,  the  Hunt  Cup,  and 
the  Hunt  Tournament. 


424 


POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 


couwrr  polo  association  (1905) 

President. — Captain  Phipps  Hornby. 
Committee  of  Management. 


C.  Adamthwaiti,  Rugby. 

Col.  Sanders  Darley,  Eden  Park. 

Tresham  Gilbey,  Stansted. 


H.  E.  Lambe,  Blackmore  Vale. 
G.  G.  LocKETT,  Wirral. 
A.  M.  Tree,  Warwickshire. 


Clive  Wilson,  Holderness. 

The  following  Clubs  are  each  entitled  to  send  a  Representative  to  the  Com- 
mittee of  Management : — Middlewood,  Hutton,  Stratford-on-Avon,  and  North 
Devon. 

Representatives  on  Hurlingham  Polo  Committee. 

C.  Adamthwaite.  I  Tresham  Gilbey. 

Captain  Phipps  Hornby. 

Secretary  and  Treasurer. 
A.  B.  Charlton,  12  Hanover  Square,  London,  W. 

Hon.  Treasurer. 
Tresham  Gilbey. 

Telephone — Post  Office,  "  Mayfair  596." 

AFFILIATED  CLUBS 

Northern  Division, 

(Hon.  Sec,  G.  G.  Lockett,  6  Commerce  Chambers,  15  Lord  Street,  Liverpool.) 


Cattcrick  Bridge. 

Cleveland. 

Edinburgh. 

Holderness. 

Liverpool. 


Manchester. 
Middlewood. 
Wirral. 
York  County. 


Midland  Division, 

(Hon.  Sec,  C.  Adamthwaite,  Drayton  House,  Daventry.) 
Market  Harborough.  1  Warwickshire. 

Rugby.  I  Stratford-on-Avon. 


APPENDIX  425 


South-Eastern  Division. 
(Hon.  Sec,  Colonel  Sanders  Darley,  155  Ashley  Gardens,  London,  S.W. 


Eden  Park. 

Stansted. 

Hutton. 

Wembley  Park. 

Kingsbury. 

Worcester  Park 

St.  Neots. 

South-JVeitern  Division. 

Hon.  Sec,  H.  E.  Lambe. 

Blackmore  Vale. 

Cirencester. 

Cardiff  and  County. 

North  Devon. 

Cheltenham. 

North  Wilts. 

COUNTY  POLO  ASSOCIATION  RULES 

1 .  That  the  Association  be  called  the  County  Polo  Association. 

2.  The  Association  shall  be  open  to  all  County  Polo  Clubs, 
and  the  Universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge.  Such  Clubs 
shall  have  printed  rules  and  a  list  of  Members,  which  shall  be 
annually  lodged  with  the  Secretary  of  the  County  Polo  Association. 

3.  Each  Club  shall  be  represented  by  one  Delegate. 

4.  There  shall  be  an  Annual  General  Meeting  of  the 
Delegates,  to  be  called  the  Council,  of  whom  five  shall  form  a 
quorum,  who  shall  elect  a  Committee  of  Management,  to  consist 
of  not  less  than  five  in  number,  of  whom  three  shall  form  a 
quorum. 

5.  Each  Club  of  the  Association  shall  pay  an  annual  Subscrip- 
tion of  Two  Guineas. 

6.  Any  Club  desiring  to  join  the  Association  shall  send  in 
an  application  to  the  Secretary,  who  shall  bring  it  before  the 
Committee  at  their  next  Meeting  for  consideration. 

7.  Polo  Clubs  joining  the  Association  shall  play  under 
Hurlingham  Rules. 

8.  A  County  Cup  Tournament  shall  be  held  annually,  to 
compete  for  a  Challenge  Cup,  which  shall  be  held  by  the 
winning  team  for  the  year.  The  Tournament  shall  consist  of 
Preliminary  Ties — Semi-finals — and  a  Final,  to  be  played  as 
follows  : — 


426        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

9.  For  the  purposes  of  the  Tournament,  the  country  shall 
be  divided  into  four  divisions  :  —  Northern,  Midland,  South- 
Eastem,  South-Western,  and  a  map  with  the  divisions  marked 
thereon  shall  be  forwarded  to  each  Honorary  Divisional 
Secretary. 

10.  Honorary  Divisional  Secretaries  shall  be  appointed  to 
arrange  for  ties  to  be  played  in  their  respective  divisions  by  the 
9th  July  in  each  year  between  all  the  clubs  desiring  to  compete. 
Entries  for  the  Tournament  close  to  the  Hon.  Secretary  of  the 
Division  on  June  8th,  and  must  be  made  upon  the  printed  form 
to  be  obtained  from  him.  The  semi-finals  and  final  matches  to 
be  played  at  Hurlingham  in  July. 

11.  The  County  Cup  Tournament  shall  only  be  open  to 
Clubs  that  have  joined  the  Association. 

12.  No  one  shall  be  eligible  to  play  for  his  Club  for  the 
County  Cup  unless  he  has  become  a  Member  of  such  Club 
before  1st  May  of  the  current  year,  and  has  played  at  least  eight 
times  in  games  or  matches  on  his  Club  Ground  before  6th  June 
of  the  current  season. 

The  Hon.  Secretary  of  each  Club  shall  keep  a  book  in  which 
the  attendance  of  members  taking  part  in  Club  Games  shall  be 
entered,  and  if  called  upon  he  shall  forward  same  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  County  Polo  Association  for  qualifying  purposes. 

13.  No  one  shall  be  eligible  to  play  in  the  preliminary,  semi- 
final, or  final  ties  of  the  County  Cup  Tournament  whose  name 
during  the  current  season  appears  in  the  tabulated  list  drawn  up 
by  the  Hurlingham  Club. 

14.  Ponies  played  in  the  County  Cup  Tournament  to  belong 
to  Members  of  the  competing  Clubs. 

15.  No  ofiicer  on  full  pay  shall  be  able  to  play  for  the 
County  Cup  except  Adjutants  of  Militia,  Yeomanry,  and 
Volunteers,  otherwise  qualified. 

16.  The  Hon.  Secretary  of  each  Club  shall  be  held  responsible 
for  the  qualifications  of  each  Member  of  the  team  entered  from 
his  Club. 


APPENDIX  427 

17.  Should  any  team  fall  short  after  the  names  are  once  sent 
in,  at  time  of  play  another  Member,  properly  qualified,  may, 
with  the  consent  of  the  Divisional  Secretary,  be  substituted.  All 
matters  connected  with  the  semi-finals  and  final  shall  be  decided 
by  the  Committee  of  Management. 

18.  There  will  be  an  Entrance  Fee  of  jf  2  :  2s.  for  each  team 
entered. 

19.  More  than  one  team  may  be  entered  from  the  same  Club. 

20.  The  names  of  the  teams  left  in  for  the  semi-finals  must 
be  forwarded  to  the  Secretary  of  the  County  Polo  Association 
so  as  to  reach  him  first  post  on  nth  July. 

21.  The  Divisional  Secretaries  must  advise  the  Committee  of 
the  dates  of  all  matches  and  the  ground  where  play  will  take 
place  at  least  three  days  before  they  are  played,  with  the  names 
of  the  players  and  the  Club  colours,  and  also  of  the  result 
immediately  afterwards,  with  names  of  Umpire  and  Timekeeper. 

22.  The  following  are  not  considered  as  County  Clubs  for 
the  purposes  of  this  Association  :  —  Hurlingham,  Ranelagh, 
Roehampton,  Wimbledon,  Crystal  Palace. 

RULES  OF  THE  IRISH  COUNTY  POLO  CLUB 
UNION,  1 90 1 

President^  Hon.  Secretary  and  Treasurer. — Steuart  Duckett,  Russelstown,  Park, 

Carlow. 
Committee.  —  One  Representative  Member  of  every  County  Polo  Club  in  Ireland. 

1.  The  Association  be  called  "The  Irish  County  Polo  Club 
Union,"  having  for  its  object  the  promotion  of  County  Polo. 

2.  That  it  shall  consist  of  bona-Jide  County  Polo  Clubs  in 
Ireland. 

3.  That  each  County  Polo  Club  shall  pay  an  Annual 
Subscription  oi  £z. 

4.  That  the  Committee,  consisting  of  one  representative  of 
each  County  Polo  Club,  be  empowered  to  transact  the  business. 


428        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

5.  That  three  Members  of  such  representatives  form  a 
quorum. 

6.  That  each  County  Polo  Club  joining  the  Irish  County- 
Polo  Club  Union  shall  subscribe  £^  towards  purchasing  the 
County  Polo  Club  Challenge  Cup. 

7.  That  the  Annual  Meeting  be  held  in  Dublin  during 
Punchestown  Week. 

RULES  AND  CONDITIONS  OF  THE  COUNTY 
POLO  CHALLENGE  CUP 

The  County  Polo  Challenge  Cup,  value  ^^50,  is  open  to  all 
bona-fide  County  Polo  Clubs  in  Ireland  that  have  joined  the 
Irish  County  Polo  Club  Union.  The  holders  of  the  Cup  each 
year  to  have  the  names  of  the  winning  team  engraved  on  the 
Cup  at  their  own  expense.     Entrance  for  the  Cup  free. 

The  Cup  to  be  played  for  under  the  Hurlingham  Club  Rules 
of  the  game. 

To  be  a  bona-fide  County  Polo  Club,  a  Club  must  have  a 
Club  Ground,  and  regular  fixed  days  for  play  on  their  ground. 

The  Hon.  Secretary  of  each  Club  must  certify,  at  the  time 
of  entry,  that  each  member  of  the  Team  is  properly  qualified. 

No  player  can  play  for  two  Counties. 

Each  County  may  enter  one  or  more  Teams. 

In  all  Matches  for  County  Challenge  Cup  the  ponies  must 
be  bona  fide  the  property  of  the  Members  of  the  Club  contending. 


QUALIFICATION    OF    PLAYERS    IN    A    COUNTY    TEAM    FOR    CHALLENGE 

CUP 

{a)  That  he  be  a  resident  in  the  County,  or 

{b)  That  he  owns  or  holds  land  in  the  County,  or 

{c)  That  he   resides  within    20   miles  of  the   County   Polo 

Ground. 
(</)  Officers  of  Army  quartered  in  a  County  not  to  be  counted 

as  residents. 


APPENDIX  429 

(e)  Aajutants  of  Militia  "  Regiments,^'  Resident  Magistrates  and 
officers  of  R. I.e.  are  counted  as  residents. 

Members  of  Clubs  not  qualified  as  above,  but  who  are  living 
outside  the  boundary  of  the  County  whose  Club  they  support, 
are  members  of,  and  on  whose  ground  they  play  regularly,  may 
play  for  that  County,  provided  they  send  their  names  before  the 
Committee  of  the  Irish  County  Polo  Club  Union  and  obtain 
their  sanction. 

Each  Member  of  a  Team  competing  for  the  Challenge  Cup 
must  have  played  on  the  County  Club  Ground  at  least  six  times 
during  the  season.  A  member  of  a  Club  playing  in  a  Match  for 
his  County  Club,  previous  to  the  Competition  for  the  Challenge 
Cup,  may  count  it  as  playing  once  on  his  County  Ground, 
though  the  Match  was  not  played  on  the  County  Ground. 

Officers  of  the  Army  and  Navy  may  play  for  their  native 
County,  provided  they  have  played  in  twelve  Games  during  the 
Season  on  the  County  Club  Ground. 


430        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 


ARMT  POLO  COMMITTEE 

An  Army  Polo  Committee,  consisting  of  one  Officer  from 
each  Regular  Regiment  or  Corps  serving  at  home  who  propose 
to  enter  a  team  in  the  Inter-Regimental  Tournament,  assemble 
at  the  Cavalry  Club  early  in  each  year,  and  appoint  a  Working 
Sub-Committee  of  three  Members  and  a  Secretary  (the  latter 
need  not  necessarily  be  a  Member  of  the  Committee). 

Sub-Committee  for  1905,  Major  Lord  Charles  Bentinck  (9th 
Lancers),  Major  G.  F.  Milner,  D.S.O.  (ist  Life  Guards),  Major 
G.  K.  Ansell  (6th  Inniskilling  Dragoons). 

Hon.  Secretary. — Major  S.  L.  Barry,  D.S.O.  (loth  Hussars). 

RULES  FOR  THE  REGULATION  OF  THE  INTER-REGIMENTAL 
TOURNAMENT,  1905 

1.  The  Tournament  to  be  played  under  the  Hurlingham 
Rules  of  Polo,  and  is  open  to  any  Regiment  of  British  Cavalry, 
Infantry,  the  Royal  Engineers,  and  the  Royal  Artillery  quartered 
at  home.  Officers  serving  at  home  on  any  duty  may  enter  as  a 
team  to  represent  their  permanent  Corps.  No  Officers  at  home 
on  leave  may  enter  to  represent  their  Regiment  which  is  serving 
abroad. 

2.  The  Entrance  Fee  for  each  team  competing  to  be  jf  i. 

3.  An  unlimited  list  of  ponies  the  bona -fide  property  of 
Officers  of  the  Regiment,  stating  name,  colour,  sex,  and  owner, 
shall  be  sent  to  the  Hon.  Secretary  by  the  20th  May.  Eighteen 
of  these  ponies  shall  be  nominated  to  the  Hon.  Secretary  one 
day  prior  to  the  First  Tie  of  the  Tournament  being  played. 

These  eighteen  ponies  shall  be  allowed  to  be  played  in  the 
Preliminary  Ties,  but  only  fifteen  of  them  shall  be  allowed  to 
be  played  in  the  Semi-final  and  Final  Ties  in  London. 

4.  The  Semi-final  and  Final  Ties  to  be  played  in  London. 


APPENDIX  431 

The  Preliminary  Ties  of  the  Tournament  shall  be  played  on 
grounds  as  near  as  possible  to  stations  where  Regiments  are 
quartered.  The  expenses  of  all  competing  teams  to  be  defrayed 
by  a  grant  from  an  Inter-Regimental  Polo  Tournament  Fund  to 
be  derived  from  the  play  of  the  Semi-Final  and  Final  Ties  in 
London,  and  the  Preliminary  Ties  on  local  grounds  where 
possible. 

5.  The  Sub-Committee  have  full  power  to  decide  upon 
what  grounds  the  Ties  and  Final  are  to  be  played. 

6.  The  annual  surplus  of  the  Inter-Regimental  Polo  Tourna- 
ment Fund,  after  deducting  all  expenditures,  shall  be  devoted 
to  Military  Charities. 

7.  There  shall  be  a  right  of  appeal  to  the  Sub-Committee 
upon  all  questions  which  are  not  by  Hurlingham  Rules  declared 
to  be  subject  to  the  final  decision  of  some  other  authority  such 
as  Umpires,  etc.,  and  the  decision  of  the  Sub-Committee  in  all 
such  appeals  shall  be  final. 

8.  Each  team  shall  be  composed  of  four  players.  During  the 
tournament  any  or  all  of  the  players  may  be  changed,  but  the 
same  four  players  must  play  continuously  in  any  one  match, 
unless  through  any  accident,  sickness,  or  unavoidable  absence 
any  of  them  are  not  able  to  play,  when  the  Sub-Committee  shall 
have  the  power  of  allowing  the  team  to  be  made  up  by  other 
players  of  the  same  Regiment. 

9.  Ponies  shall  be  bona  fide  and  unconditionally  the  property 
of  the  Regiment  or  Corps  which  the  team  represents. 

10.  Captains  of  teams  shall  certify  as  to  ownership  of  ponies 
(if  required  to  do  so)  before  play  begins. 

11.  No  pony  shall  be  played  in  the  Tournament  unless  passed 
under  the  Hurlingham  Rules  of  Measurement. 

12.  The  order  in  which  the  several  Matches  of  the  Tourna- 
ment are  to  be  played  shall  be  decided  in  the  first  Ties  by  the 
Sub-Committee  ;  in  the  Semi-Final  and  Final  Ties  by  drawing 
lots. 

13.  The  right  is  reserved  by  the  Sub-Committee  of  modifying 
or  altering  the  Conditions,  etc.,  of  the  Tournament. 


432        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 


INDIAN  POLO  ASSOCIATION  (1904) 
COMMITTEE 

President. 
Major-Gen.  D.  Haig,  C.B.,  C.V.O.,  Inspector-General  of  Cavalry  in  India. 

Members. 

Major   Hon.   C.  H.  C.  Willoughby,  ;  Lieut.-Col.   J.   H.   E.    Reid,    A.A.G., 

9th  Lancers,  Rawalpindi.  I       Lucknow. 

Lt.-Col.    Hon.    E.   Baring,   Viceroy's  !^^.      „        r-r-/-*  ^rv 

'  ^     \  Captain   Hon.   F.   E.   Guest,    ist  Life 


Staff. 
Lt.-Col.    C.    T.     McM.     Kavanagh, 

D.S.O.,  loth  Hussars,  Mhow. 
Major  R.  Hoare,  4th  Hussars,  Secun- 

derabad. 


Guards,  Lucknow. 

Lieut.  F.  W.  Barrett,  15th  Hussars, 
Meerut. 


Major  R.  St.  C.  Lecky,  R.H.A., 

Honorary  Secretary,  Indian  Polo  Association,  Umballa. 

RULES  OF  THE  CLUB 

Name  of  Club. 

1.  This  Club  shall  be  called  the  "Indian  Polo  Association." 

Membership  Donation. 

2.  All  Station,  Regimental,  and  Battery  Polo  Clubs  can 
become  Members  of  the  Indian  Polo  Association  on  payment  of 
a  donation  of  Rs.5. 

Jnnual  Subscription. 

3.  Each  Member  of  the  Indian  Polo  Association  -in  India 
shall  pay  an  annual  subscription,  payable  in  advance  on  the  ist 
April,  of  Rs.io  to  the  Association.  A  copy  of  the  Calendar  for 
the  year  will  be  sent  to  each  Member  free  of  charge. 

Members  failing  to  pay  Subscription  and  their  reinstatement, 

4.  Members  who  may  fail  to  pay  their  Annual  Subscription 
by  the  ist  April  will  be  left  out  of  the  list  of  Members  pub- 


APPENDIX  433 

lished  for  the  year.  If,  after  due  notice,  the  subscription 
remains  unpaid  on  the  ist  June,  the  name  will  be  struck  off 
the  books  of  the  Association  ;  and  a  fresh  donation  will  be 
charged  before  the  Member  can  be  reinstated. 

Native  Teams, 

5.  Native  teams  may  be  admitted  as  Honorary  Members  of 
the  Indian  Polo  Association  without  voting  powers. 

Unlimited  Number  of  Members, 

6.  The  Indian  Polo  Association  shall  consist  of  an  unlimited 
number  of  Members. 

I. P. A.  ex-officio  Committee. 

7.  The  following  gentlemen  shall  act  ex  officio  as  Honorary 
Stewards  of  the  Club. 

Honorary  Secretary,  Indian  Polo  Association. 

Inter-Regimental  Polo  Tournament. 
Native  Cavalry  Polo  Tournament. 
Infantry  Polo  Tournament. 
Punjab  Polo  Tournament. 
Calcutta  Polo  Club. 
Bombay  Polo  Club. 
Madras  Polo  Club  (Ootacamund). 
Quetta  Polo  Club. 
With  power  to  add  to  their  number. 

Executive  Committee. 

8.  The  affairs  of  the  Club  shall  be  managed  by  a  Committee 
of  the  Indian  Polo  Association,  who  shall  be  elected  annually  at 
the  General  Meeting. 

Control  of  Funds. 

9.  This  Committee  shall  have  control  of  the  funds  and  of  all 
the  property  of  the  Club. 

Annual  Meeting. 

10.  There  shall  be  an  Annual  Meeting  of  Members  of  the 
Indian  Polo  Association  during  the  Inter-Regimental  Tourna- 
ment.    No  alteration  in  the  Rules  or  Constitution  of  the  Indian 

2  F 


434        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Polo  Association  to  be  made  except  at  this  Meeting,  due  notice 
having  been  given  to  all  Members  by  the  Honorary  Secretary. 
Every  subscribing  Member  may  have  a  vote.  Voting  by  proxy 
is  permitted. 

Polo  Year, 

11.  The  Polo  year  shall  be  considered  to  be  from  the  ist 
April  in  any  one  year  to  the  31st  March  in  the  following  year. 
Any  alterations  in  these  Rules,  as  well  as  those  of  the  game, 
made  in  accordance  with  Rule  10,  shall  have  effect  from  the 
commencement  of  the  Polo  year. 

Publication  of  Polo  Calendar. 

12.  A  Polo  Calendar  shall  be  published  annually  under  the 
authority  of  the  Indian  Polo  Association. 

RULES  FOR  THE  REGULATION  OF 
TOURNAMENTS 

Application  to  hold  a  Tournament, 

1.  When  it  is  proposed  to  hold  a  Tournament,  permission 
shall  be  obtained  from  the  Indian  Polo  Association,  and  a  pro- 
spectus submitted  to  them  for  approval. 

Stewards. 

2.  All  Tournaments  played  under  the  Rules  of  the  Indian 
Polo  Association  shall  be  under  the  management  of  three 
Stewards,  who  shall  be  elected  locally. 

RigAt  of  Appeal  to  Stewards. 

3.  There  shall  be  a  right  of  appeal  to  the  Stewards  upon  all 
questions  which  are  not  by  these  Rules  declared  to  be  subject 
to  the  final  decision  of  some  other  authority  such  as  umpires, 
etc.,  and  the  decision  of  the  Stewards  in  all  such  appeals  shall 
be  final. 

Question  to  be  referred  to  Stewards. 

4.  Any  question  which  may  arise  in  the  course  of  a  Tourna- 
ment, and  which  is  not  provided  for  by  these  Rules,  shall  be 
referred  for  decision  to  the  Stewards,  who  may  if  they  think  fit, 


APPENDIX  435 

refer  the  matter  to  the  Committee  of  the  Indian  Polo  Association, 
whose  decision  shall  be  final. 

Limit  of  Time  and  Number  of  Ponies. 

5.  The  duration  of  play,  and  the  number  of  ponies  allowed 
to  be  played  by  teams  in  a  Tournament,  shall  be  decided  locally  : 
provided  that  the  maximum  duration  of  play  in  any  match  does 
not  exceed  forty  minutes,  exclusive  of  stoppages.  Each  team  to 
consist  of  not  more  than  four  players. 

Drawing  of  Ties. 

6.  In  case  of  the  number  of  competing  teams  for  a  Tourna- 
ment not  being  a  power  of  2,  as  4,  8,  16,  etc.,  all  byes  to  be  in 
the  first  round.  For  instance,  13  teams  competing,  3  are  drawn 
as  byes  ;  the  remainder  play  ofi^,  leaving  8  to  play  in  the  second 
round. 

List  of  Ponies  and  Short  Description  of  Tournaments, 

7.  The  Honorary  Secretary  of  a  Tournament  will  obtain 
from  the  captain  of  each  team  at  the  conclusion  of  Tournament 
a  correct  list  of  the  ponies  played  in  Tournament  by  his  team. 
Printed  forms  will  be  supplied  by  the  Honorary  Secretary,  Indian 
Polo  Association,  for  this  purpose.  The  lists,  together  with  a 
short  description  of  the  Tournament  for  record  in  the  Calendar, 
will  be  forwarded  to  the  Honorary  Secretary,  Indian  Polo 
Association,  as  soon  as  possible  after  the  conclusion  of  the 
Tournament. 

Ponies  allowed  to  play  in  a  Tournament, 

8.  No  pony  without  an  Indian  Polo  Association  certificate, 
or  a  certificate  of  measurement  fourteen  hands  one  inch  or  under, 
from  an  authorised  measurer  of  the  Association,  or  from  an  official 
measurer  of  the  Calcutta  or  Western  India  Turf  Clubs,  granted 
since  ist  April  1899,  shall  be  allowed  to  play  in  a  Tournament, 
except  when  a  local  measuring  is  sanctioned. 

Registration  Fee  of  Pony  holding  Racing  Certificate. 

9.  The  Honorary  Secretary  of  a  Tournament  will  be  respons- 
ible that  a  fee  of  Rs.2  is  collected  for  each  pony  with  a  racing 


436        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

certificate    that    has   not  been   previously  registered  as  a   polo 
pony,  before  such  pony  is  allowed  to  play. 

Application  for  a  Measuring  of  Ponies. 

10.  A  measuring  of  ponies  for  Indian  Polo  Association  cer- 
tificates, by  a  selected  measurer,  will  be  arranged  and  sanctioned, 
when  possible,  on  any  date  and  at  any  place  it  may  be  desired. 
Applications  for  such  measurings  should  be  made  to  the  Honorary 
Secretary,  Indian  Polo  Association,  if  possible,  one  month  before 
the  measuring  is  required.  In  the  application  the  number  of 
ponies  for  which  the  measuring  is  requisitioned  should  be  stated. 

Local  Measuring. 

11.  In  the  case  of  a  Tournament  where  an  Indian  Polo 
Association  measuring  cannot  be  arranged,  a  local  measurer  will 
be  appointed,  whose  measurements  will  be  accepted  for  that 
Tournament  only. 

Disqualification  of  a  Team. 

12.  Any  team  knowingly  playing  a  pony  in  a  Tournament 
that  has  not  been  measured  and  passed  in  accordance  with  these 
Rules,  shall  be  disqualified  for  that  Tournament. 

Fir st-C lass  Tournaments. 

13.  The  following  are  classed  as  first-class  Tournaments  : — 
The  Inter-Regimental  Polo  Tournament. 

The  British  Infantry       „  „ 

The  Native  Cavalry        „  „ 

The  I.P.A.  Championship  „ 

and  all  Tournaments  in  which  there  are  no  restrictions  as  to 
composition  of  teams. 

Compulsory  Membership. 

14.  All  the  players  in  any  Tournament  played  under  I.P.A. 
Rules  must  belong  to  some  body  which  is  a  Member  of  the 
Association.  The  entrance  fee  and  annual  subscription  is  so 
small  that  any  few  players  combining  to  form  a  team  can  join 
the  Association  as  a  member,  if  they  do  not  severally  already 
belong  to  some  body  which  is  a  member. 


APPENDIX  437 


RULES  OF  THE  GAME  OF  POLO 

Ground,  etc. 

Si2^  of  the  Ground. 

1.  The  size  of  the  ground  shall  be  as  nearly  as  possible  300 
yards  long  and  200  yards  broad. 

Boundary  Lines. 

2.  The  four  corners  shall  be  marked  by  flags.  The  boundary 
lines  joining  the  corner  flags  shall  be  spitlocked,  except  between 
the  goal-posts,  and  inside  the  subsidiary  goal  marks  ;  those 
marking  the  length  of  the  ground  shall  be  called  the  side  lines  ; 
those  marking  the  breadth  of  the  ground  shall  be  called  the 
back  lines. 

Marking  of  Side  Lines. 

3.  Small  flags  shall  be  placed  on  each  side  line  to  mark 
points,  which  shall  be  30  yards  from  each  back  line,  50  yards 
from  each  back  line,  and  the  centre  of  each  side  line  (centre 
flags). 

Marking  of  Back  Lines. 

4.  In  the  centre  of  each  back  line  there  shall  be  a  goal, 
marked  by  goal-posts,  which  shall  be  at  least  10  feet  high  and 
22  feet  apart.  11  feet  from  the  outside  of  each  goal-post  sub- 
sidiary goal  marks  will  be  shown  on  the  ground  by  a  small  white 
line,  perpendicular  to  the  back  line. 

Goal  Line  and  Subsidiary  Goal  Line. 

5.  The  line  between  the  goal-posts  shall  be  called  the  goal 
line.  The  line  between  the  subsidiary  goal  mark  and  the  goal- 
post nearest  to  it  shall  be  called  the  subsidiary  goal  line.  For 
matches,  the  goal  line  and  the  subsidiary  goal  line  shall  be 
marked  by  a  narrow  line  of  whitewash. 

Players  and  Umpires  only  allowed  on  the  Ground. 

6.  Each  team  shall  consist  of  not  more  than  four  players. 


438        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

No  person,  other  than  players  and  umpires,  shall  come  on  the 
ground  while  the  ball  is  in  play. 

The  Ball, 

7.  The  ball  shall  be  about  ten  and  a  half  inches  in  circum- 
ference, and  four  ounces  in  weight. 

Duration  of  Play,  Periods,  and  Intervals 

Duration  of  Play, 

8.  Each  match  shall  last  for  not  more  than  forty  minutes* 
actual  play,  divided  into  periods  of  five  minutes.  Time  must  be 
called,  irrespective  of  the  ball  being  in  play,  when  the  game 
shall  have  lasted  its  specified  maximum  time. 

Periods, 

9.  A  period  will  end  the  first  time  the  ball  goes  out,  after  five 
minutes'  actual  play,  except  that  the  penalty  mentioned  in  Rule 
17  (/),  or  the  penalty  for  any  foul,  must  be  exacted  in  the  same 
period  in  which  the  breach  of  rules  occurred.  Any  excess  of 
time  over  five  minutes,  in  each  period,  will  be  deducted  from 
the  last  period,  and  if  the  aggregate  of  such  overtime  exceeds 
five,  or  ten  minutes,  from  the  last  period  but  one,  or  the  last 
period  but  two,  as  may  be  found  necessary. 

Intervals. 

10.  There  shall  be  an  interval  of  not  more  than  three  minutes 
between  each  period,  and  of  one  minute  after  each  goal.  At  the 
conclusion  of  each  interval,  and  otherwise,  whenever  the  ball 
goes  out  of  play,  the  game  must  be  at  once  re-started  as  laid 
down  in  Rule  17. 

A  Match  how  decided. 

11.  A  match  is  won  by  the  team  that  scores  the  greatest 
number  of  goals,  or,  in  the  event  of  a  tie,  by  the  team  that  scores 
the  greatest  number  of  subsidiary  goals.  No  number  of  sub- 
sidiary goals  will  ever  equal  a  true  goal.  If,  at  the  expiration 
of  time,  each  team  has  scored  the  same  number  of  goals  and 
subsidiary  goals,  the  goals  shall  be  widened  up  to  the  subsidiary 
goal  marks,  and  fresh  subsidiary  goal  marks  drawn  at  the  usual 


APPENDIX  439 

distance  outside  them.  The  game  shall  then  be  re-started  from 
the  centre  of  the  ground  {vide  Rule  17  {a)),  and  play  shall  be 
continued  for  five  minutes.  If,  at  the  expiration  of  this  additional 
five  minutes,  the  game  is  no  longer  a  tie,  time  shall  be  called, 
and  the  match  shall  end.  But  if  the  game  is  still  a  tie,  time 
shall  not  be  called  until  the  ball  goes  out  of  play.  The  game 
shall  then  be  continued,  with  the  usual  periods  and  intervals, 
until  one  side  scores,  when  it  shall  end,  or  otherwise,  until  play 
is  no  longer  possible.  In  the  latter  case  the  Local  Tournament 
Committee  will  settle  whether  the  match  is  to  be  played  over 
again,  or  the  most  equitable  way  in  which  a  decision  shall  be 
arrived  at. 

Goals 
Goal  how  obtained. 

12.  A  goal  is  obtained  if  the  ball  cross  over  the  back  line 
between  the  goal-posts,  or,  if  higher  than  the  goal-posts,  between 
the  goal-posts  produced  perpendicularly,  or,  if  one  or  both  goal- 
posts have  been  displaced,  between  the  points  where  the  goal-posts 
should  stand. 

Subsidiary  Goal  how  obtained. 

13.  A  subsidiary  goal  is  obtained  in  the  same  way  as  a  goal, 
except  that  to  score  a  subsidiary  goal  the  ball  must  pass  between 
the  subsidiary  goal  mark  and  the  goal-post  which  is  nearest  to  it. 
After  a  subsidiary  goal  the  ball  shall  be  hit  off  in  accordance 
with  Rule  17  {/)  or  (/). 

Goals  obtained  by  Unfair  Flay, 

14.  No  goals  or  subsidiary  goals  shall  be  counted  which  have 
been  obtained  by  unfair  play.  Any  infringement  of  the  Rules 
constitutes  unfair  play. 

Choice  and  Change  of  Goals. 

15.  Sides  shall  toss  for  choice  of  goals.  With  regard  to  the 
change  of  goals  in  the  case  of  no  goals  being  scored,  when  half- 
time  would  fall  in  the  middle  of  a  period,  the  first  time  the  ball 
goes  out  of  play,  after  half  the  time  allotted  for  the  total  periods 
of  play  shall  have  expired,  goals  shall  be  changed  and  the  game 
re-started  as  directed  in  par.  (tf)  Rule  17,  Rules  of  the  Game  of 


440        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Polo,  provided  that  any  penalty  due  is  first  exacted.     But  after 
the  first  goal,  goals  shall  only  be  changed  after  each  goal  obtained. 

Local  Committee  and  Stopping  Game. 

1 6.  If  a  game  has  to  be  stopped  from  any  cause,  for  any  length 
of  time,  before  the  full  time  of  play  has  been  completed,  the 
Local  Committee  shall  decide  when  the  game  shall  be  resumed. 

Bringing  the  Ball  into  Play 
Starting  and  Re-starting  Game. 

17.  The  umpires  shall  have  the  power  of  ordering  play  to 
begin,  after  the  time  fixed,  notwithstanding  the  absence  of  any 
player. 

{a)  To  start  the  game,  and  after  each  change  of  goals,  the 
ball  shall  be  brought  into  play  between  the  centre  flags, 
by  one  of  the  umpires  (who  will  remain  mounted)  bowl- 
ing the  ball  underhand  along  the  ground,  close  to  his 
pony,  as  hard  as  possible,  at  right  angles  to  the  side  line 
towards  the  centre  of  the  ground  between  the  two  sides, 
who  will  range  themselves  opposite  to  each  other,  no 
player  to  be  closer  to  the  umpire  than  ten  yards.  The 
umpire  will  bring  the  ball  into  play,  from  a  point  about 
eighty  yards  from  the  side  line,  and  always  from  the 
same  side  of  the  ground. 

{b)  The  same  procedure  will  be  adopted  in  the  case  of  a 
broken  ball  or  an  accident,  but  in  these  cases  the  ball 
will  be  brought  into  play  outwards  from  the  centre^  at  the 
spot  where  the  ball  was  broken,  or  the  accident  occurred. 

(f)  When  the  ball  goes  out  at  the  side  the  ball  shall  be  thrown 
in  at  once  at  the  spot  where  it  went  out,  either  by  the 
umpire  in  the  manner  detailed  above,  or  by  any  one  on 
foot  deputed  by  him  to  do  so,  who  will  bowl  it  in 
underhand,  no  player  to  be  within  ten  yards  of  the  line. 
The  umpire  will  not  wait  for  both  sides  to  form  up. 

{d)  To  re-start  the  game  after  a  foul  has  been  given,  the 
penalty  for  that  foul  will  be  carried  out. 


APPENDIX  441 

{e)  When  the  ball  is  hit  behind  the  adversary's  back  line  by 
one  of  the  attacking  side  the  goal-referee  will  place  the 
ball  on  a  spot  as  near  as  possible  to  that  at  which  it 
crossed  the  line,  but  behind  it.  The  umpires  will  see 
that  the  ball  is  hit  off  by  one  of  the  defending  side 
without  delay,  and  that  none  of  the  attacking  side 
approach  within  thirty  yards  of  the  back  line  up  to  the 
moment  it  is  hit  off.  At  the  commencement  of  a  new 
period,  should  none  of  the  defending  side  be  at  the  spot 
where  the  ball  went  behind,  ready  to  hit  off,  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  goal-referee  at  once  to  bowl  in  the  ball 
underhand,  at  the  spot,  at  right  angles  to  the  back  line, 
as  hard  as  possible.  And  in  this  case  the  penalty  for 
an  offside  shall  not  be  claimed  against  the  attacking  side 
should  no  one  of  the  defending  side  be  between  them 
and  the  back  line. 

(/)  W^lien  the  ball  is  hit  with  a  stick  behind  the  back  line 
by  one  of  the  defending  side,  one  of  that  side  shall  hit 
it  off  from  behind  the  goal  line,  between  the  goal-posts. 
All  the  players  of  the  defending  side  shall  stand  behind 
the  back  line,  not  outside  the  subsidiary  goal  marks  on 
each  side  ;  none  of  the  attacking  side  to  be  within 
thirty  yards  of  the  back  line  in  each  case,  until  the  ball 
is  hit  off  across  the  back  line.  The  penalty  will  not  be 
exacted  should  the  ball  go  behind  by  reason  of  glance 
off  a  pony  or  player. 

Ba//  In  and  Out  of  Play. 

18.  The  ball  shall  be  considered  to  be  in  play  whenever  it 
has  been  hit  off  across  the  back  line  ;  or  in  the  case  of  a  penalty 
other  than  a  hit  off  from  behind,  whenever  it  has  been  struck,  or 
struck  at,  with  the  intention  of  hitting  off,  or  whenever  it  has 
been  thrown  in,  unless  immediately  recalled  by  the  umpire. 
The  ball  is  out  of  play  if  it  goes  over  and  clear  of  the  side  or 
back  line  {vide  Rule  35),  or  if  these  lines  are  marked  by  a 
trench,  into  that  trench. 


442        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Ordinary  Fouls. 

Dismounted  Player. 

19.  No  dismounted  player  shall  be  allowed  in  any  way  to 
take  part  in  the  game  while  dismounted. 

Left-handed  Play  and  Catching  the  Ball. 

20.  A  player  must  not  play  left-handed.  If  any  player  catch 
the  ball  in  any  way  during  the  game,  it  must  be  dropped  on  the 
ground  at  once. 

Reviving  the  Ball. 

21.  The  ball  must  be  revived  whenever  the  ball  goes  out  of 
play,  with  the  least  possible  delay.  If  unnecessary  delay  occurs, 
the  umpire  will  either  revive  the  ball  himself  in  the  necessary 
direction,  or  give  a  foul  against  the  offending  side  {vide  Rule 

39^)- 

Crooking  or  Stopping  Sticks. 

22.  No  player  shall  crook  or  stop  an  adversary's  stick,  except 
when  the  latter  is  about  to  strike  the  ball,  and  unless  he  is  on 
the  same  side  of  the  adversary's  pony  as  the  ball,  or  immediately 
behind. 

Rough  Play. 

23.  No  player  shall  seize  with  the  hand,  strike,  or  push  with 
the  head,  elbow,  hand,  stick,  or  whip,  another  player  or  pony  ; 
but  a  player  may  push  with  his  arm  above  the  elbow,  provided 
the  elbow  be  kept  close  to  his  side.  A  player  who,  after  being  once 
warned  by  the  umpire,  continues  to  play  roughly,  renders  him- 
self liable  to  be  ordered  off  the  ground  for  *'  unfair  play  "  under 
Rule  38  (a). 

24.  No  player  shall  intentionally  strike  his  pony  with  the 
head  of  his  polo  stick. 

PThips. 

25.  Whips  may  be  used,  but  the  length  of  a  whip  must  not 
exceed  3  feet  6  inches. 

No  Player  to  Interfere  when  Offside. 

26.  No  player  when  "offside"  shall  be  allowed  to  hit  the 


APPENDIX  443 

ball,  or  shall  in  any  way  prevent  the  opposite  side  from  reaching 
or  hitting  the  ball,  or  in  any  way  interfere  in  the  game,  inten- 
tionally or  otherwise. 

Definition  of  Offside. 

27.  A  player  is  offside  when,  at  the  time  of  the  ball  being 
hit,  he  has  no  adversary  nearer  than  he  is  to  such  adversary's 
back  line  or  behind  that  line,  and  he  is  neither  in  possession  of 
the  ball  nor  behind  one  of  his  own  side  who  is  in  possession  of 
the  ball.  "  He  shall  be  deemed  to  remain  offside  until  he  is,  ist,  in 
the  position  of  an  onside  player ;  "  2nd,  ''^  until  the  ball  is  hit  or  hit 
at  again y 

Dangerous  Fouls. 

Definition  of  Possession  of  the  Ball. 

28.  The  player  who  last  hit  the  ball,  if  still  following  the  line 
of  the  ball.,  remains  in  possession  of  the  ball,  so  long  as  he  can,  ^z/ 
the  pace  at  which  he  is  moving,  reach  the  ball  again  before  any 
other  player,  and  the  possession  of  the  ball  only  passes  to  another 
player  when  that  other  player — 

(tf)  is  riding  on  a  line  closer  and  more  nearly  parallel  to  the  line 
on  which  the  ball  is  travelling  than  the  original  striker  ; 

{b)  places  himself  on  the  line  of  the  ball  without  causing  the 
original  striker  to  check  to  avoid  a  collision  ; 

(r)  fairly  "rides  off"  (Rule  30)  the  original  striker. 

Crossing. 

29.  One  player  crosses  another  player — 

(<?)  Who,  when  not  entitled  to  possession  of  the  ball  (as  defined 
in  Rule  28),  crosses  the  line  on  which  the  ball  is  travel- 
ling, or  that  line  produced,  and  thereby  collides  with 
the  player  in  possession  of  the  ball,  or  causes  the  latter 
to  check  to  avoid  collision. 

(^)  Who,  when  in  possession  of  the  ball,  turns  on  the  ball 
except  at  such  a  distance  as  to  obviate  any  chance  of 
collision  with  another  player  riding  on  the  line,  pro- 


444        ^OLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

duced  either  way,  on  which  the  ball  is  or  has  been 
travelling. 

(r)  Who,  when  two  players  {neither  entitled  to  possession)  start 
from  different  directions  to  try  and  obtain  possession  of 
the  ball,  does  not  give  way  to  the  other  player  of  the  two, 
who  is  moving  on  a  line  more  nearly  parallel  to  that  on 
which  the  ball  is  or  has  been  travelling. 

JV.5. — In  no  case  can  a  player  be  made  to  pay  the  penalty 
for  a  cross  who  is  so  ridden  off  as  to  be  forced  across 
the  line  of  a  player  who  is  in  possession  of  the  ball. 
In  this  case  the  player  who  causes  the  danger  is  to  blame. 

Fair  Riding. 

30.  A  player  shall  be  considered  to  ride  off  fairly  when, 
having  placed  himself  abreast  of  an  adversary  (after  following  a 
line  of  direction  as  nearly  as  possible  parallel  to  that  in  which 
his  adversary  is  moving),  he  gradually  forces  him  from,  or  pre- 
vents his  continuing  in,  the  direction  in  which  he  is  riding. 

Dangerous  Riding. 

31.  Riding  into  an  adversary  in  any  other  way  than  as  defined 
in  Rule  28,  or  placing  a  stick  in  a  dangerous  manner  over  or 
under  the  body  or  across  the  legs  of  an  adversary's  pony,  con- 
stitutes dangerous  riding.  A  player,  however,  who  deliberately 
rides  his  pony  up  to  an  adversary  who  is  in  possession  of,  and 
striking  at,  the  ball  ;  or  who  deliberately  rides  his  pony  over  the 
ball  to  prevent  an  adversary  striking  at  it,  does  so  at  his  own  risk. 

Penalties 
Penalty  for  an  '•''Ordinary  Foul.^^ 

32.  The  penalty  for  an  "ordinary  foul,"  i.e.  for  any  infringe- 
ment of  Rules  19  to  27,  is  either — 

(/)  A  free  hit  from  where  the  ball  was  when  the  foul  occurred, 
none  of  the  side  causing  the  foul  to  come  within  ten 
yards  of  the  ball  till  it  has  been  hit  or  hit  at. 


APPENDIX  445 

(//)  The  side  causing  the  foul  to  take  the  ball  back  and  hit 
it  off  from  behind  their  own  back  line,  as  in  Rule  17  (/). 

The  side  which  is  not  the  offending  one  has  the  choice  of 
penalties. 

Penalty  for  a  ^^  Dangerous  FouL^^ 

33.  The  penalty  for  a  "dangerous  foul,"  i.e,  for  crossing  or 
dangerous  riding,  is  as  follows  : — 

A  free  hit  from  a  spot  fifty  yards  from  the  back  line  of  the 
side  causing  the  foul,  opposite  the  centre  of  the  goal,  or,  if 
preferred,  from  where  the  foul  occurred  ;  all  the  side 
causing  the  foul  to  be  behind  the  back  line  until  the 
ball  is  hit  or  hit  at,  but  not  between  the  goal-posts,  nor 
when  the  ball  is  brought  into  play  may  any  of  that  side 
ride  out  from  between  the  goal-posts  ;  none  of  the  other 
side  to  be  nearer  the  back  line  than  the  ball  is  at  the 
moment  the  ball  is  hit  or  hit  at. 

Time  allowed  for  a  Penalty. 
33  {a).  "If  a  penalty  for  an  ordinary  or  dangerous  foul  is 
awarded  within  fifteen  seconds  of  final  time  being  called,  then 
fifteen  seconds  shall  be  allowed  from  the  time  the  ball  is  hit  or 
hit  at  until  final  time  is  called." 

Umpires,  etc. 

Umpire  Staff, 

34.  Two  umpires,  four  goal-referees,  a  time-keeper,  and  a 
scorer  shall  be  nominated  for  each  match.  The  umpires  and 
goal-referees  shall  each  be  provided  with  a  whistle.  Each  pair 
of  goal-referees  shall  in  addition  be  provided  with  a  coloured 
flag  for  signalling  goals,  and  a  white  flag  for  signalling  subsidiary 
goals.     The  time-keeper  shall  be  provided  with  a  stop-watch. 

The  Whistle. 

35.  Umpires  and  goal-referees  will  blow  a  whistle  whenever 
the  ball  is  out  of  play,  as  a  signal  that  the  game  must  be  stopped. 
The  whistle  must  never  be  blown  to  show  that  the  ball  is 
brought  into  play. 


446        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Qualifications  of  Umpires. 

36.  Umpires  must  be  regular  polo  players,  and  must  possess 
a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  rules  of  the  game.  They  must  be 
mounted  on  well-trained  and  fast  ponies,  so  as  to  be  able  to  ride 
near  enough  to  the  ball  to  give  a  decision  at  any  moment,  and 
yet  not  to  interfere  with  the  players.  Their  decision  is  final  on 
all  questions  arising  out  of  the  actual  play  of  the  game,  as  well 
as  on  questions  declared  by  these  Rules  to  be  subject  to  their 
final  decision. 

Duties  of  Umpires  in  Stopping  the  Game. 

37.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  umpires  to  stop  the  game  when — 
{a)  the  ball  is  sufficiently  damaged  to  interfere  with  the  game  ; 
(^)  the  ball  is  not  brought  properly  into  play  ; 

(f)  the  ball  crosses  the  side  line  ; 

(^)  they  see,  whether  appealed  to  or  not,  any  infringement 
of  these  Rules  constituting  an  "  ordinary  foul  "  or  a 
*'  dangerous  foul  "  ; 

{e)  any  fall  or  accident,  involving  danger,  occurs. 

Duties  of  Umpires  as  to  Dangerous  Players  and  Ponies. 

38.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  umpires  to  order  off  the  ground — 

(tf)  any  player  who  deliberately  plays  unfairly  or  rides  danger- 
ously, and  he  shall  not  be  replaced  ; 

{J>)  any  pony,  which  they  may  consider  dangerous  or  impro- 
perly bitted,  or  which  the  rider  has  not  under  thorough 
control. 

Duties  of  Umpires  as  to  Reviving  the  Ball,  etc. 

39.  It  is  the  duty  of  umpires — 

{a)  to  see  that  no  delay  occurs  in  reviving  the  ball  under 
Rule  17  {d),  {e),  and  (/),  {vide  Rule  21)  ; 

{b)  to  order  any  player  to  take  off  his  spurs,  or  to  use  spurs 
without  rowels,  who,  in  their  opinion,  is  ill-treating 
his  pony. 


APPENDIX  447 

Duties  of  Goal" Referees. 

40.  Goal-referees  shall  blow  the  whistle  the  moment  the 
ball  crosses  the  back  line  at  any  point.  They  are  the  judges  of 
the  goals  and  subsidiaries ;  but  if  at  any  time  they  are  in  doubt 
the  umpires  must  be  consulted.  In  the  case  of  a  goal,  or  a  sub- 
sidiary goal,  they  will  at  once  signal  to  the  scorer,  and  see  that 
the  signal  is  answered.  Their  duties  as  to  re-starting  the  game 
are  explained  in  Rule  17  {e). 

Duties  of  Time-keeper. 

41.  The  time-keeper  is  responsible  that  a  bell  is  rung,  or  a 
bugle  sounded,  at  the  conclusion  of  each  period  and  interval. 
He  will  stop  his  watch  whenever  the  whistle  is  blown.  No 
time  shall  be  counted  while  the  ball  is  out  of  play. 

HINTS  TO  UMPIRES 

1.  Umpires  should  endeavour  to  place  themselves  in  the 
most  advantageous  place  for  seeing  the  game,  and  apportioning 
the  work.  One  on  each  side  of  the  play,  level  generally  with 
the  back,  will  be  found  the  best  place  as  a  rule  for  attaining 
this  end. 

2.  By  dividing  the  ground  in  two,  both  lengthways  and 
breadthways,  each  umpire  can  take  one  back  line  and  one  side 
line. 

3.  There  is  a  tendency  on  the  part  of  umpires,  from  natural 
causes,  to  watch  only  the  play  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 
ball.  For  this  reason  much  unfair  riding  by  No.  I's,  when  in 
reality  offside,  escapes  their  attention.  This  may  be  obviated 
by  each  umpire  keeping  under  special  observation  the  four 
players  who  happen  to  be,  at  any  given  time,  nearest  to  his  own 
back  line. 

4.  Umpires  should  have  new  balls  in  their  pockets,  with 
which  to  re-start  the  game  at  once,  if  the  ball  goes  out  of  play. 
An  umpire  will  find  it  easy  to  bowl  in  correctly  if  he  puts  his 
horse  in  motion  in  the  direction  he  wishes  to  bowl  the  ball. 


448         POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

5.  They,  and  goal-referees,  should  blow  their  whistles  loud 
enough  for  the  time-keeper  to  hear.  This  point  is  sometimes 
forgotten. 

6.  They  should  make  up  their  minds,  and  give  their  decisions 
clearly  and  firmly,  refusing  to  enter  into  any  discussion  as  to 
the  why  or  wherefore  of  their  decisions. 

7.  Either  umpire  should,  whether  appealed  to  or  not,  stop 
the  game  if  he  sees  a  foul,  and  award  a  penalty,  although  it  may 
have  happened  on  the  side  of  the  game  away  from  him.  But  he 
should  use  his  discretion  in  not  adjudging  a  foul  if  the  other 
umpire,  nearest  to  the  incident  and  in  full  view,  has  evidently 
taken  no  objection. 

8.  They  must  bear  in  mind  that  if  they  do  not  order  off  the 
ground  any  dangerous  or  unmanageable  pony,  they  more  or  less 
make  themselves  responsible  for  any  accident  that  may  occur 
through  that  pony.  The  same  applies  in  the  case  of  a  player 
riding  dangerously,  and  repeating  the  offence  after  being  warned. 
It  is  their  first  and  most  imperative  duty  to  stop  dangerous  and 
unfair  play  of  any  sort  or  kind. 

9.  The  special  attention  of  umpires  is  drawn  to  the  following  : 

{a)  As  crosses  frequently  occur  in  the  meeting  of  the  ball 
when  hit  out  from  the  back  line,  the  nearest  umpire 
should  place  himself  on  the  line  of  the  ball,  produced 
in  either  direction. 

{6)  When  a  player  is  pursuing  an  adversary  with  intent  to 
hook  his  stick,  the  umpire  should  see  that  when  he  does 
so  he  is  on  the  same  side  as  the  ball,  or  immediately 
behind.  This  particular  breach  of  rules  often  occurs 
in  a  scrimmage  in  the  vicinity  of  goal. 

(r)  When  a  player,  with  the  intention  of  hitting  a  back- 
hander, comes  in  at  an  angle,  on  the  line  of  the  ball, 
the  umpire  should  see  that  he  is  entitled  to  possession, 
under  Rule  28  ;  as  if  he  is  not  entitled  to  possession  of 
the  ball,  and  the  player  in  possession  of  the  ball  has  to 
check  to  avoid  a  collision,  it  is  a  "  cross." 


APPENDIX  449 

(</)  In  all  doubtful  cases  of  crossing,  the  pace  at  which  both 
players  are  moving  must  he  carefully  considered^  as  on  this 
depends  the  question  whether  the  player  entitled  to 
possession  has  to  check  to  avoid  collision. 

{/)  The  umpire  should  see  that  none  of  the  attacking  side 
are  within  30  yards  of  the  back  line,  when  the  ball  is 
hit  off  from  behind. 

(/")  The  umpire  should  see  that  none  of  the  players,  who 
have  been  sent  behind  their  back  line  under  Rule  17  (/"), 
32  (//),  or  33,  when  the  ball  is  hit  out,  cross  that  line 
before  the  ball. 

{g)  Each  umpire  should  watch  the  position  of  the  back  and 
No.  I  under  his  immediate  observation,  at  the  moment 
the  ball  is  hit,  either  in  front  of  or  behind  these  two 
players,  as  this  moment  determines  the  question  of 
"offside." 

STATION  POLO 

1.  In  every  station  where  polo  is  regularly  played  the  players 
shall  elect  a  committee  from  amongst  the  most  experienced 
polo  players,  to  be  called  the  "  Station  Polo  Committee." 

2.  It  is  the  duty  of  this  Committee  to  regulate  all  matters  in 
the  station  connected  with  polo,  and  to  see  that  the  station  games 
are  played  in  accordance  with  the  rules.  Ignorance  of  the  rules 
by  young  players  tends  to  a  great  deal  of  the  unfair  and  dangerous 
riding  often  seen  in  station  games,  which  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
Committee  to  stop. 

3.  The  Committee  will  arrange  for  occasional  "  slow  periods  " 
for  unbroken  ponies  and  beginners.  No  pony  which  is  not 
thoroughly  broken,  and  no  player  who  is  a  bad  horseman,  or 
who  does  not  know  the  rules  of  the  game,  should  be  allowed 
to  play  in  a  "  fast  period." 

4.  An  umpire  must  be  appointed  for  matches  of  any  sort. 
But  for  ordinary  station  games,  as  it  is  generally  impracticable 

2  G 


45° 


POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 


to  provide  an  umpire,  any  two  members  of  the  Polo  Committee 
must  interpret  the  rules,  and  settle  any  disputes  that  may  occur. 

5.  The  Committee  will  see  that  no  player  plays  any  portion 
of  a  game  without  a  polo  helmet  or  lungi.  But  even  this  pre- 
caution is  useless,  unless  players  themselves  see  that  their  helmets 
are  firmly  secured  under  their  chins  with  a  strong  strap,  which 
will  not  break  or  come  off  in  a  fall. 


RULES  FOR  HEIGHT  AND  MEASUREMENT  OF 
POLO  PONIES 

1.  The  maximum  height  of  polo  ponies  shall  be  fourteen 
hands  and  one  inch. 

2.  All  ponies  must  be  measured  according  to  these  Rules 
before  they  can  be  played  in  a  tournament,  with  exceptions  : — 

{a)  Those  holding  Indian  Polo  Association  life  certificates, 

(^)  Those  holding  season  Indian  Polo  Association  certificates 
which  are  in  force  on  the  date  of  playing. 

(r)  Those  holding  life  certificates  from  the  Calcutta  or 
Western  India  Turf  Clubs  of  1 3. 2 J  (or  under)  up  to 
31st  March  1899,  of  14.1  (or  under  since  that  date). 

(</)  Those  holding  season  certificates  from  the  Calcutta  or 
Western  India  Turf  Clubs  of  14.1  or  under,  which  are 
still  in  force. 

3.  At  tournaments  held  in  places  or  on  dates  at  which  there 
is  no  opportunity  of  obtaining  an  authorised  measurer  under 
Rule  4,  a  local  measurer  will  be  appointed,  with  the  sanction  of 
the  Indian  Polo  Association  Committee,  to  measure  ponies,  their 
measurements  being  in  force  for  that  tournament  only.  Such 
measurements  will  be  carried  out  strictly  in  accordance  with 
these  Rules  ;  no  fee  will  be  required  for  such  measurements. 

4.  {a)  A  measuring  for  Indian  Polo  Association  Certificates 
will  be  sanctioned  by  the  Indian  Polo  Association  Committee  at 


APPENDIX 


451 


any  place  and  on  any  date  it  may  be   required,  provided  the 
services  of  a  measurer  selected  by  the  Committee  can  be  obtained. 

(^)  The  Committee  may  refuse  a  measurement  of  less  than 
three  ponies,  unless  the  owner  or  owners  are  prepared  to  pay 
veterinary  officer's  fees. 

5.  Applications  for  such  a  measuring  should  be  made  to  the 
Honorary  Secretary,  Indian  Polo  Association,  if  possible  thirty 
days  before  it  is  required.  The  probable  number  of  ponies 
which  will  be  brought  up  for  measurement  should  be  stated  in 
the  application. 

6.  All  expenses  incurred  by  the  measurer  in  proceeding  to  a 
place  to  measure  ponies,  veterinary  officer's  fees,  and  other 
charges  in  connection  with  the  measuring  will  be  passed  and 
paid  by  the  Honorary  Secretary,  Indian  Polo  Association. 

7.  When  a  "measuring"  has  been  arranged  and  sanctioned, 
a  measuring  standard  and  printed  forms  will  be  supplied  to  the 
measurer  by  the  Honorary  Secretary,  Indian  Polo  Association. 

8.  No  person  dissatisfied  with  a  measurement  can  demand, 
as  a  right,  a  fresh  measurement ;  but  the  official  measurer  may, 
on  application,  re-measure  a  pony  which  has  been  measured  by 
him,  if  the  application  is  made  at  once,  and  if  he  considers  that 
the  measurement,  from  the  fretfulness  of  the  pony  or  other  cause, 
was  not  satisfactory. 

When  a  re-measurement  is  allowed,  the  pony,  if  presented  at 
the  time  and  place  directed  by  the  measurer,  shall  be  again 
measured  on  payment  of  the  prescribed  fee  ;  otherwise  the 
original  measurement  shall  stand. 

9.  A  measurer  shall  refuse  to  measure  any  pony  that  is  known 
to  have  previously  been  measured  and  declared  over  14.  i  by  a 
measurer  authorised  to  measure  by  the  Indian  Polo  Association 
Committee,  or  by  an  official  measurer  of  the  Calcutta  or  Western 
India  Turf  Clubs. 

A  certificate  granted  to  a  pony  which  has  been  previously 
measured  will  be  cancelled. 


452        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

10.  A  pony  shall  not  be  measured  if  he  appears  to  have 
been  subjected  to  any  improper  treatment  with  a  view  to  reduce 
his  height,  or  if  he  is  in  an  unfit  state  to  be  measured  ;  and  he 
shall  not  be  aged  or  measured,  if  he  is  unnamed,  or  if  all  the 
particulars  required  by  the  measurer  for  filling  in  the  forms  are 
not  furnished.  If  a  pony  is  rejected  on  the  ground  that  he  has 
been  subjected  to  improper  treatment,  the  measurer  may  order 
that  he  shall  not  be  again  presented  within  a  period  of  six 
months. 

1 1.  The  following  fees  shall  be  paid  in  advance,  and  shall  be 
remitted  by  the  measurer  to  the  Honorary  Secretary,  Indian 
Polo  Association.  For  every  pony  presented  for  measurement, 
Rs.io.     For  the  re-measurement  of  a  pony,  Rs.5, 

A  pony  measured  and  passed  for  a  Season  Certificate  will  be 
entitled  to  measurement  free  of  charge  for  future  measurements, 
the  fee  paid  for  the  first  measuring  entitling  the  pony  to  this 
benefit. 

12.  A  measurer,  after  entering  up  the  description  and  ages  of 
the  ponies  before  him  on  the  form  and  in  the  columns  prescribed, 
shall  measure  them  and  pass  them  as  polo  ponies,  provided  they 
are  14.1  (or  under),  certifying  to  the  correctness  of  the  measure- 
ments by  signing  the  form  referred  to. 

13.  No  person  shall  take  any  part  in  ageing  or  measuring  his 
own  pony,  or  a  pony  in  which  he  has  an  interest. 

14.  The  following  rules  shall  be  strictly  observed  in  measur- 
ing ponies  : — 

{a)  The  pony  shall  stand  stripped  on  a  perfectly  level  plat- 
form. 

(^)  The  head  shall  be  so  held  that  a  line  from  the  poll  to 
the  wither  would  be  parallel  to  the  platform.  The 
forelegs  from  the  point  of  the  shoulder,  and  the  hind- 
legs  from  the  back  downwards  shall  be  as  perpendicular 
to  the  platform  and  as  parallel  to  each  other  as  the 
conformation  of  the  pony  allows. 

(r)  The  wither  may  be  shaved,  but  the  mane  must  not  be 


APPENDIX  453 

pulled  down,  or  the  skin  of  the  neck  or  wither  in  any- 
way interfered  with. 

(//)  The  pony  shall  be  held  by  a  person  deputed  by  the 
measurer,  and  shall  not  be  touched  by  any  one  else  with- 
out his  permission. 

{e)  The  measurement  shall  be  made  at  the  highest  point  of 
the  wither,  with  a  measuring  rod  of  a  pattern  approved 
of  by  the  Indian  Polo  Association  Committee. 

(/)  No  allowances  shall  be  made  for  shoes. 

15.  The  measurer  may  direct  that  any  pony  which  cannot 
be  properly  measured  within  such  time  as  he  considers  reason- 
able, within  a  limit  of  five  minutes,  shall  be  brought  up  again. 
In  such  case  no  additional  fee  shall  be  charged. 

16.  In  ageing  ponies  a  veterinary  surgeon  shall  be  consulted. 
He  shall  be  entitled  to  fees  on  the  following  scale  : — 

Rs.i6  for  12  ponies  or  less. 
»,  32   »    13       »       to  24. 
„  48   „    25  or  more. 

17.  In  the  absence  of  a  veterinary  surgeon  a  reliable  and 
trustworthy  native  salutrie  may  be  employed  on  the  following 
fees  : — 

Rs.  8  for  12  ponies  or  less. 
„  16   „    13  to  24  ponies. 
„  24  „    25  or  more    „ 

18.  Ponies  thus  measured  14.1  or  under,  by  a  selected 
measurer,  shall  be  entitled  to  certificates.  Certificates  so  granted 
shall  be  life  certificates,  except  in  the  case  of  ponies  under  six 
years  old,  when  the  certificates  will  be  available  for  the  current 
season  only. 

19.  Any  person  may,  on  payment  of  a  fee  of  R.i,  obtain 
from  the  Honorary  Secretary,  Indian  Polo  Association,  a  certified 
extract  of  any  entry  in  the  Register  of  Ponies. 


454        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 


AMERICA.  UNITED  STATES  OF 


THE  POLO  ASSOCIATION,  NEW  YORK 


Committee. 


H.  L.  HiRBERT,  Chairman. 
R.  L.  Agassiz. 
Geo.  J.  Gould. 


John  C.  Groome. 
W.  A.  Hazard. 
Thomas  Hitchcock,  jun. 


Secretary  and  Treasurer. 
W.  A.  Hazard,  29  Broadway,  New  York. 

List  of  Affiliated  Clubs, 

Philadelphia. 


Aiken. 

Buffalo. 

Bryn  Mawr. 

Camden  Country  Club. 

Country  Club  of  Westchester  (of 

Westchester,  N.Y.). 
Dedham. 
Devon. 

Great  Neck  Polo  Club. 
Jacksonville. 
Lakewood. 
Meadowbrook. 
Morris  County. 
Myopia  Hunt  Club. 
Onwentsia. 


Point  Judith. 
Rockaway. 
Romsen. 

Saratoga  Polo  Club. 
Somerset. 
Southampton. 
Squadron  "  A  "  Polo  Club. 
Staten  Island. 
St.  Louis. 

The  Country  Club,  Brookline. 
Washington. 

Westchester  Polo  Club  (of  New- 
port, R.I.). 


AMERICAN  POLO  ASSOCIATION 

1.  The  Polo  Association  shall  consist  of  an  Association  of 
Polo  Clubs,  each  to  be  represented  by  one  delegate  who  shall 
out  of  their  number  elect  at  the  annual  meeting  a  committee  of 
nine,  including  the  chairman,  for  the  term  of  one  year,  from 
the  following  localities  : — Four  from  New  York  and  vicinity, 
two  from  Philadelphia  and  vicinity,  two  from  New  England, 
and  one  from  the  West. 

2.  To  have  the  entire  control  of  all  matters  relating  to  the 


APPENDIX  455 

Polo  Association,  and  shall  be  the  authority  for  enforcing  the 
rules  and  deciding  all  questions  relating  thereto.  They  shall 
have  the  power  to  appoint  all  officials  for  a  term  not  exceeding 
their  own,  and  to  make  such  changes  in  the  rules  and  bye-laws 
as  they  may  consider  necessary.  The  chairman  of  the  Associa- 
tion shall  be  a  member  of  the  committee  ex  officio. 

3.  Every  club  and  its  delegate  up  for  election  shall  be 
proposed  and  seconded  in  writing  by  two  delegates,  and  the 
election  may  take  place  at  any  meeting  of  the  committee.  The 
election  to  be  determined  by  ballot.  One  black  ball  in  five  to 
exclude.  When  any  club  shall  withdraw  its  delegate,  his 
successor  shall  be  proposed,  seconded,  and  voted  for  in  like 
manner. 

4.  Each  club  a  member  of  the  Association  shall  pay  an 
annual  subscription  of  $65.00.  All  subscriptions  shall  become 
due,  and  payable  in  advance,  on  ist  May  of  each  year.  The 
subscription  remaining  unpaid  after  1st  June  is  to  be  considered 
as  in  arrear,  and  no  club  whose  subscription  is  in  arrear  shall 
enjoy  any  privileges  of  the  Association  nor  take  part  in  any 
games  with  members  in  good  standing. 

5.  The  annual  meeting  of  the  Association  shall  be  held  on 
the  second  Tuesday  in  April,  at  such  place  in  New  York  City 
as  the  committee  may  designate.  The  committee  shall  meet  once 
a  month  or  oftener,  from  April  to  September  inclusive.  Three 
members  to  constitute  a  quorum  at  the  committee  meetings. 

6.  In  the  absence  of  a  club  delegate  the  president  or  secretary 
of  such  club  may  furnish  a  written  proxy  to  be  used  at  the 
meeting  for  which  it  is  named. 

7.  Minutes  of  the  proceedings  of  every  meeting  shall  be 
taken  during  their  progress  by  the  secretary  ;  or,  in  case  of  his 
absence,  as  the  chairman  shall  direct,  and  be  afterwards  copied 
into  a  minute  book,  to  be  kept  for  that  purpose,  and,  after  being 
read  at  the  next  meeting,  shall  be  signed  by  the  chairman  of 
that  meeting. 

8.  The  order  of  business  at  the  annual  meeting  shall  be  as 
follows  : — 


456        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

(i)  The  noting  of  the  members  present. 

(2)  Reading  of  minutes  of  last  annual  meeting,  and  of  sub- 
sequent special  meetings. 

(3)  Reports  of  treasurer  and  other  officers. 

(4)  Reports  of  special  committees  and  consideration  of  any 
resolutions  attached  thereto. 

(5)  Election  of  officers. 

(6)  Deferred  business. 

(7)  New  business. 

The  order  of  business  may  be  suspended,  on  motion,  by  vote 
of  two-thirds  of  the  members  present. 

9.  In  case  the  conduct  of  a  delegate  be  considered  injurious 
to  the  character  or  interests  of  the  Association,  in  the  opinion 
of  any  five  members,  who  shall  certify  the  same  in  writing  to 
the  committee,  a  meeting  of  the  committee  shall  be  held  to 
consider  the  case. 

If  the  member  whose  conduct  is  in  question  shall  not  explain 
the  same  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  committee,  or  if  the  committee 
acting  as  judges  shall  be  of  the  opinion  that  the  member  has 
committed  a  breach  of  the  rules  of  polo,  or  of  the  bye-laws,  or 
been  guilty  of  conduct  injurious  to  the  interests  of  the  Associa- 
tion, which  ought  not  to  be  condoned,  they  may  call  upon  such 
member  to  resign  ;  or  shall  request  the  club  whose  representative 
he  is  to  withdraw  him,  and  nominate  his  successor  for  election, 
and  in  event  of  their  neglecting  to  do  so,  the  committee  shall 
have  power  to  expel  him,  and  his  club  shall  be  erased  from  the 
list  of  members  ;  provided,  always,  that  such  expulsion  shall 
only  be  by  a  majority  of  two-thirds,  at  a  committee  meeting 
consisting  of  not  less  than  five  members. 

In  any  case  where  the  expulsion  of  a  delegate  is  deemed 
necessary,  the  decision  of  the  committee  shall  be  without  appeal, 
and  the  club  so  expelled  shall  have  no  remedy  against  the 
committee. 

10.  A  delegate  may  issue  free  tickets  of  admission  to  members 
of  the  club  he  represents,  good  for  one  week  at  any  club  ground 
during  Association  week  there. 


APPENDIX  457 

RULES  OF  THE  POLO  ASSOCIATION 

Ground. 

1.  The  ground  should  be  about  900  feet  long  by  450  feet 
wide,  with  a  ten-inch  guard  from  end  to  end  on  the  sides  only. 

Goal- Posts, 

2.  The  goal-posts  shall  be  24  feet  apart,  at  least  10  feet  high, 
and  light  enough  to  break  if  collided  with. 

Balls  and  Mallets. 

3.  The  ball  shall  be  of  wood,  with  no  other  covering  than 
white  paint,  3^  inches  in  diameter,  and  not  exceeding  5  oz.  in 
weight.  Mallets  shall  be  such  as  are  approved  by  the  Com- 
mittee. 

Ponies. 

4.  The  height  of  ponies  shall  not  exceed  14.2. 

Ponies  aged  five  (5)  years  and  upwards  may  be  measured  and 
registered  for  life  ;  ponies  under  five  (5)  years  may  be  registered 
for  the  current  season  only.  Any  member  of  the  Committee 
may  measure  ponies  not  his  own  and  issue  certificates  of  registry. 
He  shall  determine  the  age  of  the  pony.  The  Committee  may 
by  vote  appoint  one  or  more  official  measurers,  who  shall  have 
all  the  powers  hereby  given  the  Committee  in  respect  to  the 
measurement  of  ponies  and  the  issue  of  certificates. 

Periods, 

5.  {a)  In  match  games  between  pairs  there  shall  be  two 
periods  of  fifteen  (15)  minutes'  each  actual  play. 

{b)  In  match  games  between  teams  of  three  (3)  there  shall 
be  three  (3)  periods  of  fifteen  (15)  minutes'  each  actual  play. 

Under  {a)  and  {b)  two  (2)  minutes  shall  be  allowed  after 
each  goal,  and  intervals  of  five  (5)  minutes  between  periods, 
unless  otherwise  agreed. 

(f)  In  match  games  between  teams  of  four  (4),  there  shall  be 
four  (4)  periods  of  fifteen  minutes'  each  actual  play.  Two  (2) 
minutes  shall  be  allowed  after  each  goal,  and  intervals  of  seven 
(7)  minutes  between  periods,  unless  otherwise  agreed. 


458         POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Under  {a),  (^),  and  (f),  time  between  goals  and  delays  shall  not 

be  counted  as  actual  play. 

Eligibility. 

6.  A  member  of  a  club  which  is  a  member  of  the  Polo 
Association  shall  not  play  any  match  games  with  or  against  any 
club  which  is  not  a  member  of  the  Association,  nor  shall  any 
player  play  on  the  team  of  any  club  of  which  he  is  not  a 
member,  except  on  written  consent  of  the  Committee,  and  the 
approval  of  the  captains  of  the  teams  entered. 

7.  A  player  shall  be  handicapped  with  but  one  club  at  a 
time. 

8.  A  player  shall  not  play  for  the  same  prize  on  more  than 
one  team  or  pair. 

Any  player  in  his  first  tournament  events  shall  be  handicapped 
at  not  less  than  two  goals,  and  shall  so  continue  until  changed  by 
the  Committee. 

Entries. 

9.  Entries  for  tournament  events  shall  be  made  in  writing, 
naming  the  probable  players  and  substitutes,  and  be  accompanied 
by  an  entrance  fee  of  ten  (10)  dollars  for  each  player,  which  is 
to  be  returned  if  the  team  plays,  otherwise  it  is  forfeited  to  the 
Association.  Entries  absolutely  close  on  the  day  announced. 
No  conditional  entries  shall  be  received. 

The  entrance  fee  for  Championship  events  shall  be  one 
hundred  (100)  dollars  for  each  team. 

Drawings, 

10.  The  drawings  for  all  tournaments  shall  be  made  under 
the  Bagnell-Wilde  system.  (This  consists  of  playing  a  pre- 
liminary round  to  reduce  the  number  of  contesting  teams  to 
two,  four,  eight,  or  sixteen,  thus  eliminating  the  bye  at  once, 
and  putting  all  contestants  on  the  same  footing.) 

Uniform, 

11.  Captains  shall  not  allow  members  of  their  teams  to 
appear  in  the  game  otherwise  than  in  club  uniform. 

Colours, 

12.  The  Polo  Association  colours  are  white  and  dark  blue. 


APPENDIX      .  459 

Championship. 

13.  {a)  There  shall  be  a  Senior  and  a  Junior  Championship 
tournament,  the  latter  immediately  preceding  the  former. 
The  Senior  Championship  shall  be  open  to  teams  without 
limit  of  handicap.  The  Junior  Championship  shall  be 
open  to  teams  whose  aggregate  handicap  does  not  exceed 
twenty  (20)  goals,  but  this  limit  is  simply  to  define  the 
class,  and  all  games  in  both  classes  shall  be  played  with- 
out handicap. 

No  player  with  a  higher  handicap  than  five  (5)  goals 
on  15th  May  shall  compete  in  the  Junior  Champion- 
ship. 

The  handicap  governing  eligibility  to  Junior  Champion- 
ship teams  shall  be  that  in  force  15  th  May  of  the  year  in 
which  the  Championship  events  take  place. 

{b)  The  winner  of  the  Junior  Championship  events  shall 
have  the  privilege  of  making  a  post-entry  for  the  Senior 
Championship  events. 

(f)  Except  as  provided  in  Section  b  paragraph,  a  player 
shall  not  be  allowed  to  play  in  both  classes. 

{d)  In  both  classes,  the  Championship  may  be  won  by 
default,  but  in  such  case  no  individual  trophies  shall  be 
added. 

{e)  Any  club  which  may  enter  a  team  or  teams  for  the 
Championship  or  Junior  Championship  of  the  Polo 
Association  Clubs,  shall  nominate  only  players  directly 
identified  with  such  club,  and  the  Committee  shall  be 
notified  of  the  names  of  the  players  composing  each  team 
not  less  than  ten  days  preceding  the  closing  of  entries. 
The  Committee  shall  then  decide  with  which  club  any 
player  is  eligible  to  compete  for  the  Championship 
events. 

Entries  for  the  Club  Championship  to  close  20 
days  preceding  the  first  event  ;  Entries  for  the  Junior 
Championship  to  close  five  days  later  than  for  the 
Club  Championship. 


46o        POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 


FIELD  RULES 

Field  Captain. 

1.  There  shall  be  a  field  captain  for  each  team  who  shall 
have  the  direction  of  positions  and  plays  of  his  men.  He  shall 
have  the  sole  right  to  discuss  with  the  Referee  questions  arising 
during  the  game,  and  to  enter  protests  with  the  Referee,  pro- 
vided that  a  player  fouled  may  claim  the  foul.  Other  players 
shall  testify  only  when  requested  by  the  Referee. 

Referee. 

2.  The  two  captains  shall  agree  upon  a  Referee,  whose 
decision  shall  be  final  in  regard  to  all  questions  of  actual  play, 
but  as  regards  eligibility  of  players,  handicaps,  and  interpretations 
of  General  Rules,  an  appeal  may  be  made  by  either  captain  to 
the  Committee,  whose  decision  shall  be  final. 

Disqualification  of  Ponies. 

3.  Any  pony  may  be  protested  on  the  field  under  General 
Rule  4  (if  possible,  before  play  begins),  by  the  field  captain  of 
the  side  against  which  the  pony  is  offered  to  be  played.  Unless 
a  certificate  of  registry  under  said  Rule  4  is  then  produced,  the 
Referee  shall  forthwith  measure  the  pony  and  decide  the  protest. 
If  sustained,  the  pony  shall  be  ruled  off  the  field  for  the  match. 

The  Referee  shall  exclude  from  the  game  any  dangerous  or 
vicious  pony. 

Timer  and  Scorer. 

4.  The  two  captains  shall  agree  upon  a  timer  and  a  scorer 
who  shall  perform  their  duties  under  the  direction  of  the 
Referee. 

Goal  fudges. 

5.  The  home  captain  shall  appoint  two  goal  judges,  accept- 
able to  the  visiting  captain,  each  of  whom  shall  give  testimony 
to  the  Referee,  at  the  latter's  request,  in  respect  to  goals  and 
other  plays  near  his  goal,  but  the  Referee  shall  make  all 
decisions. 


APPENDIX  461 

Substitute. 

6.  Each  team  should  have  a  substitute  in  readiness  to  play  in 
case  of  accident  or  disqualification. 

Clear  Field. 

7.  Only  players  and  referee  shall  be  allowed  upon  the  ground 
during  the  progress  of  the  game. 

Choice  of  Ends. 

8.  The  choice  of  ends  shall  be  determined  by  the  toss  of  a 
coin  between  the  field  captains. 

Change  of  Ends. 

9.  Ends  shall  be  changed  after  every  goal. 

Throw  In. 

10.  The  game  begins  when  the  ball  is  thrown  in  by  the 
Referee  between  the  contestants  who  shall  each  be  on  his  own 
side  of  the  middle  line. 

11.  After  an  interval,  the  Referee  shall  throw  in  the  ball 
when  the  proper  signal  is  given  by  the  timer,  whether  all  the 
players  are  lined  up  or  not. 

Goal. 

12.  A  goal  is  made  when  the  ball  goes  over  and  clear  of  the 
line  between  the  goal-posts,  or  above  the  top  of  the  goal-posts 
between  centre  lines. 

Safety. 

13.  Whenever  a  player,  either  accidentally  or  intentionally, 
gives  the  ball  an  impetus  with  his  mallet  which  carries  the  ball 
over  the  goal  line  he  is  defending  and  it  touches  nothing  except 
the  goal-post  or  the  ground  after  leaving  his  mallet  it  shall  be 
deemed  a  safety. 

Score. 

14.  {a)  A  goal  counts  one. 

{b)  A  safety  counts  minus  one-quarter. 
(c)  A  foul  counts  minus  one-half. 

The  side  wins  which  is  credited  with  the  largest  score  at  the 
end  of  the  match. 


462        POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

lime  Limit. 

15.  When  the  time  limit  of  any  period  (except  the  last)  ex- 
pires, the  signal  shall  be  given,  but  the  game  shall  continue 
until  the  ball  goes  out  of  bounds  or  a  goal  is  made.  Such  over- 
time in  any  period  shall  be  deducted  from  the  playing  time 
of  the  succeeding  period.  When  the  time  limit  for  the  last 
period  is  reached,  the  signal  shall  be  given  and  the  game  shall 
then  cease  with  the  ball  in  its  position  at  the  moment  of  the 
signal. 

16.  If  a  goal  is  made  when  any  fraction  of  time  remains  to 
be  played  the  game  shall  continue. 

17.  When  the  ball  is  out  of  bounds,  and  the  limit  of  time 
expires  before  it  is  put  in  play,  the  period  ends. 

Tie. 

18.  In  event  of  a  tie  at  the  end  of  the  last  period,  the  game 
shall  continue  (after  the  usual  interval  between  periods)  until 
a  goal  or  safety  is  made,  or  a  foul  is  penalised. 

Out  of  Bounds. 

19.  When  the  ball  crosses  a  side  line,  it  is  out  of  bounds, 
and  shall  be  put  in  play  by  the  Referee  throwing  it  up  between 
the  contestants  (lined  up  as  at  the  beginning  of  the  game) 
toward  the  middle  of  the  field,  and  parallel  to  the  goal  lines,  at 
the  point  where  it  went  over  the  boards.  He  shall  throw  from 
outside  the  side  boards. 

Knock  In. 

20.  When  the  ball  crosses  an  end  line,  it  is  out  of  bounds,  and 
the  side  defending  the  goal  at  that  end  is  entitled  to  a  knock-in, 
the  ball  being  placed  on  the  line  at  the  point  which  it  crossed, 
but  in  no  case  nearer  than  ten  (10)  feet  to  the  goal-posts  or  to 
the  side  boards. 

21.  A  ball  must  be  over  and  clear  of  the  line  to  be  out. 

22.  When  a  player  having  a  knock-in  causes  delay,  the 
Referee  may  throw  a  ball  on  the  field  and  call  play.  No 
opponent  shall  come  within  fifty  (50)  feet  of  the  ball,  when 
placed  for  a  knock-in,  until  the  same  has  been  hit  by  a  mallet. 


APPENDIX  463 

As  soon  as  the  ball  is  touched  by  a  mallet  after  being  placed 
for  a  knock-in,  it  is  in  play,  and  subject  to  the  rules  of  play. 

Player  Substituted. 

23.  When  a  player  is  replaced  by  a  substitute,  he  cannot  re- 
turn to  the  team  the  same  day,  except  to  take  the  place  of  a 
player  who  is  disabled  or  disqualified. 

Handicap. 

24.  When  a  change  of  players  takes  place  after  the  game  has 
begun,  the  handicap  of  the  men  having  the  highest  number  of 
goals  shall  be  counted. 

Fouls. 

25.  The  Referee  shall  declare  any  violation  of  Rules  27,  28, 
29  and  30  a  foul,  when  seen  by  him,  without  waiting  to  have  it 
claimed  ;  or,  when  not  seen,  upon  evidence  satisfactory  to  him. 
He  may  suspend  the  player  committing  the  foul  for  the  match, 
but  he  shall  also  allow  the  usual  penalty  of  one-half  goal. 

26.  In  case  of  repeated  or  wilful  violation  of  said  rules,  espe- 
cially by  conduct  dangerous  to  the  safety  of  other  players,  the 
Referee  shall  suspend  the  player  guilty  thereof  for  the  match. 

27.  In  case  of  a  player  being  disabled  by  a  foul  so  that  he  is 
unable  to  continue,  the  side  which  has  been  fouled  shall  have 
the  option,  instead  of  providing  a  substitute,  to  designate  the 
player  on  the  opposite  side  whose  handicap  is  nearest  above  that 
of  the  disabled  player,  and  the  former  shall  thereupon  retire 
from  the  game.  The  penalty  shall  be  in  addition  to  those  here- 
inbefore provided,  and  the  game  shall  continue  with  each  side 
reduced  by  the  above  withdrawals. 

Dangerous  Riding. 

28.  Careless  or  dangerous  horsemanship  or  a  lack  of  consider- 
ation for  the  safety  of  others  is  forbidden. 

The  following  are  examples  of  riding  prohibited  under  this 
rule  : — 

{a)  Bumping  at  an  angle  dangerous  to  a  player  or  to  his  pony. 

{b)  Zigzagging  in  front  of  another  player  riding  at  a  gallop. 

(f)  Pulling  across  or  over  a  pony's  forelegs  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  risk  tripping  the  pony. 


464        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Right  of  Way, 

29.  (/7)  The  right  of  way  is  given  to  the  player  who  has  last 
hit  the  ball,  or  to  the  player  who  has  entered  safely  on  the  line 
of  the  ball  between  it  and  the  last  hitter,  or  (as  against  players 
not  in  possession  of  the  ball)  to  the  player  who  is  following 
nearer  than  any  other  player  the  line  of  direction  of  the  ball. 

Crossing, 
{b)  A  player  shall  not  cross  the  player  having  the  right  of 
way,  except  at  an  unquestionably  safe  distance  ;  nor  shall  he  pull 
up  in  front  of  the  latter  unless  he  is  far  enough  ahead  to  give  the 
latter  unquestionably  enough  time  to  pull  up  also  ;  nor  shall  he 
pull  up  across  the  latter  on  any  consideration  whatsoever. 

Meeting. 

30.  Whenever  two  players  are  riding  in  opposite  directions 
for  the  ball,  each  shall  leave  the  ball  on  his  off  side. 

Other  Prohibitions. 

31.  (^)  A  player  shall  not  strike  an  adversary  or  his  pony 
with  the  hands  or  mallet,  or  strike  the  ball  when  dis- 
mounted. 

{b)  A  player  shall  not  interpose  his  mallet  to  interfere  with 
an  opponent's  stroke. 

{e)  A  player  shall  not  put  his  mallet  over  his  adversary's  pony 
either  in  front  or  behind. 

(</)  A  player  shall  not  seize  with  the  hand,  strike  or  push 
with  the  head,  hand,  arm,  or  elbow,  but  a  player  may 
push  with  his  shoulder  provided  the  elbow  is  kept  close 
to  his  side. 

{e)  A  player  requiring  a  mallet,  pony,  or  assistance  from  an 
outside  person  during  the  game  shall  ride  to  the  end  or 
side  lines  to  procure  it.  No  person  shall  come  on  the 
field  to  assist  him. 

(/)  A  player  shall  not  hold  the  ball  in  his  hand,  arm,  or  lap, 
nor  shall  he  kick  or  hit  the  ball  with  any  part  of  his 
person.  He  may,  however,  block  the  ball  with  any 
part  of  his  person  or  with  his  pony. 


APPENDIX  465 

Fines. 

32.  The  Referee  shall  also  have  the  power  to  impose  a  fine 
(the  amount  to  be  determined,  by  the  Committee)  on  any  team 
or  member  of  a  team  failing  to  appear  within  reasonable  time  of 
the  hour  named  for  the  events  for  which  they  have  entered,  or 
for  any  misconduct  or  violation  of  the  rules  during  the  progress 
of  the  game,  and  shall  report  the  same  in  writing  to  the  Com- 
mittee for  enforcement. 

Penalty. 

33.  The  Referee  may  at  his  discretion  award  a  penalty  of 
half  a  goal  for  any  violation  of  Field  Rules  not  covered  by 
Rule  24. 

Suspension  of  Play. 

34.  {a)  When  a  foul  is  allowed  by  the  Referee,  he  may  or 
may  not  stop  the  game,  according  to  his  judgment  as  to  the 
advantage  gained  or  lost  by  the  foul. 

Jccident. 
{b)  In  case  of  an  accident  to  a  player  or  to  a  pony,  or  to  a 
pony's  gear  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Referee,  involves 
danger  to  a  player,  he  shall  stop  the  game.  It  shall  not  be 
stopped  for  a  broken  or  lost  mallet,  stirrup  leather,  curb  chain, 
or  martingale  (unless  liable  to  trip  a  pony). 

Broken  Ball. 
(r)  When  a  ball  is  broken  or  trodden  into  the  ground  in  a 
manner  to  be  unserviceable,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Referee,  or 
when  it  strikes  the  Referee  or  his  pony  so  as  in  his  opinion  to 
affect  the  game  seriously,  he  shall  stop  the  game,  and  may 
substitute  another  ball  by  throwing  it  towards  the  middle  of  the 
field  between  the  players  at  the  point  where  the  event  occurred. 

Change  of  Ponies, 

{d)  In  the  case  of  ten  (10)  minutes  of  continuous  play,  the 
Referee  shall  stop  the  game  for  a  change  of  ponies  as  soon  there- 
after as  the  ball  goes  out  of  bounds.  Not  exceeding  two  (2) 
minutes  shall  be  allowed  for  this  purpose. 

2  H 


466        POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Other  Cause, 

{e)  The  Referee  shall  suspend  the  game  for  any  other 
reasonable  cause. 

Time  Lost. 

{/)  Time  lost  under  paragraphs  a,  b,  r,  </,  and  e  shall  not  be 
counted  as  actual  play. 

Referee's  Whistle, 

35.  In  all  the  above  cases  the  play  is  not  suspended  until  the 
Referee's  whistle  blows,  but  the  game  shall  be  considered  stopped 
at  the  time  the  event  occurred.  The  ball,  when  placed  again 
in  play,  shall  be  thrown  by  the  Referee  toward  the  middle  of 
the  field  at  the  point  at  which  the  ball  was  when  the  event 
occasioning  the  suspension  of  the  game  occurred. 

Failure  to  Finish. 

36.  In  the  event  of  a  game  being  stopped  by  darkness,  or  for 
any  cause  which  prevents  a  finish  the  same  day,  it  shall  be 
resumed  at  the  point  at  which  it  stopped,  as  to  score  and  position 
of  the  ball,  at  the  earliest  convenient  time,  unless  settled  other- 
wise by  agreement  between  the  captains. 

THE  OPEN  POLO  CHAMPIONSHIP  OF  AMERICA 

was  decided  at  Van  Courtland  Park,  New  York  City,  in  1904, 
by  a  game  between  the  Wanderers  and  the  Freebooters.  The 
teams  were — 

Wanderers,  '  Freebooters, 

C.  R.  Snowden.  Devereux  Milburn. 

J.  E.  Cowdin.  R.  L.  Agassiz. 

J.  M.  Waterbury,  jun.  Foxhall  Keene. 

L.  Waterbury.  Joshua  Crane,  jun. 

The  Wanderers  won  by  4^  goals  to  3,  after  a  very  fast  game. 
The  Championship  Match  is  to  be  an  annual  event. 


APPENDIX 


467 


NEM^  SOUTH  WALES  POLO  ASSOCIATION 


OFFICERS, 


[902. 


Patron. 
His  Excellency  the  Governor. 

President. 
J.   M.  L.  Macdonald,  Esq. 

J^ice- Presidents. 
Dr.  George  Watt.  |  C.  B.  Fairfax,  Esq. 

Hon.  Secretary  and  Treasurer. 
A.  J,  DoDDs,  Hunter  Street,  Sydney. 


Affiliated 

Sydney  Polo  Club. 
Muswellbrook  Polo  Club. 
Scone  Polo  Club. 
Narandera  Polo  Club. 
Broken  Hill  Polo  Club. 
Cooma  Polo  Club. 
Coolah  Polo  Club. 
Bland  Polo  Club. 
Dubbo  Polo  Club. 
Quirindi  Polo  Club. 
Camden  Polo  Club. 
Tamarang  Polo  Club. 
"  Rock  "  Polo  Club,  Broke,  via 
Singleton. 


Clubs. 


Wardry  Polo  Club. 

"  Duntroon  "  Polo   Club,  guean- 

beyan. 
Cassilis  Polo  Club. 
Bombala  District  Polo  Club. 
"  Waradgery"  Polo  Club,  Hay. 
"Talbragar"  Polo  Club,  Culgong. 
Wellington  Polo  Club. 
Narromine  Polo  Club. 
Mudgee  Polo  Club. 
Mullaley  Polo  Club. 
Denison  Polo  Club. 
Glen  Innes  Polo  Club. 


RULES  OF  THE  NEW  SOUTH  WALES  POLO 
ASSOCIATION 

1.  The  Association  shall  be  called  the  "New  South  Wales 
Polo  Association." 

2.  The  Association  adopts  the  Hurlingham  Rules  with  such 
amendments  as  are  hereby  authorised,  and  all  the  alterations  and 


468         POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

amendments  made  therein  from  time  to  time  by  the  Hurlingham 
Polo  Club. 

3.  The  Association  shall  consist  of  the  Clubs  hereinbefore 
named,  and  Clubs  subsequently  elected  under  Rule  8. 

4.  The  officers  of  the  Association  shall  consist  of  a  Patron,  a 
President,  two  Vice-Presidents,  an  Hon.  Secretary  and  Hon. 
Treasurer  to  be  elected  at  the  Annual  General  Meeting. 

5.  Each  Club  shall  be  entitled  to  elect  a  representative  to  be 
a  member  of  the  Council  of  the  Association,  and  such  repre- 
sentative shall  act  until  notice  of  the  election  of  a  successor  is 
received  from  the  Secretary  of  his  Club. 

6.  The  representatives  so  elected,  with  the  Officers  of  the 
Association,  shall  constitute  the  Council  of  the  Association,  and 
all  the  business  of  the  Association  shall  be  transacted  by  said 
Council. 

7.  The  accounts  of  the  Association  shall  be  audited  by  two 
auditors  to  be  elected  at  the  Annual  General  Meeting. 

8.  Clubs  joining  the  Association  must  be  duly  proposed  and 
seconded  by  two  of  the  delegates  of  the  Associated  Clubs,  and 
be  balloted  for  ;  one  black  ball  in  three  to  exclude. 

9.  Each  Club  shall  pay  an  annual  subscription  of  One  Guinea. 

10.  Any  Club  may  by  a  resolution  of  the  Council  be  struck 
off  the  list,  if  found  guilty  of  wilfully  breaking  any  of  the  Rules 
of  the  Association. 

1 1.  At  all  meetings  of  the  Council  five  shall  form  a  quorum. 

12.  The  Annual  General  Meeting  of  the  Association  shall 
be  held  in  Sydney,  not  later  than  ist  November  in  each  year. 
Seven  days'  notice  of  such  meeting  to  be  sent  to  Secretaries  of 
Affiliated  Clubs. 

13.  Any  three  members  of  the  Council  may  by  giving  ten 
days'  notice,  instruct  the  Hon.  Secretary  to  call  a  meeting  of  the 
Council,  or  of  the  Association  at  such  time  and  place  as  may  be 
desirable. 

14.  A  representative  shall  not  represent  more  than  one  Club. 
Any  representative  may  appoint  a  substitute  to  attend  and  vote 


APPENDIX  469 

for  him  at  any  meeting  of  the  Association,  such  appointment  to 
be  in  writing,  and  to  be  handed  to  the  Chairman  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  meeting. 

15.  The  Council  sha#  be  the  governing  body,  and  shall  have 
power  to  decide  all  matters  connected  with  Polo  in  the  State, 
and  shall  arrange  all  international,  inter-state,  inter-provincial, 
and  such  other  matches  as  they  may  think  desirable,  and  shall 
control  all  polo  races  and  sports,  and  no  man  shall  be  played  in 
a  representative  team  unless  he  is  a  member  of  an  Associated 
Club.  Any  player  or  any  Club  refusing  to  be  bound  by  any 
decision,  or  breaking  the  rules  of  the  Council,  may  be  disquali- 
fied for  such  term  as  the  Council  may  see  fit. 

16.  The  Hon.  Secretary  shall,  within  a  fortnight  after  the 
election  of  any  Club,  inform  it  by  letter  of  its  election,  and  send 
the  Hon.  Secretary  of  such  Club  a  copy  of  these  Rules  and  laws 
of  the  game,  and  every  new  Club  shall  pay  its  subscription 
within  a  fortnight  after  receiving  notice  of  election,  and  shall 
forward  a  list  of  its  members  and  a  copy  of  its  Rules  whenever 
required  by  the  Hon.  Secretary  of  the  Association. 

17.  The  dress  of  the  representative  teams  of  the  Association 
shall  be  a  white  shirt  or  jersey  with  light  blue  hoops,  boots,  and 
white  breeches. 

18.  Clubs  joining  the  Association  shall  register  their  colours, 
which  must  be  approved  of  by  the  Council,  and  the  right  to 
such  colours  shall  be  decided  by  priority  of  registration. 

19.  All  funds  of  the  Association  shall  be  paid  into  a  bank  to 
the  credit  of  the  Association,  and  all  accounts  shall  be  passed  by 
the  Committee  and  shall  be  paid  by  cheque  signed  by  the  Hon. 
Treasurer. 

20.  In  the  event  of  any  outlay  being  required  beyond  the 
funds  of  the  Association,  each  representative  shall  be  deemed 
entitled  to  incur  on  behalf  of  his  club  his  proportion  of  the  sum 
needed,  provided  that  the  amount  payable  by  each  club  shall 
in  no  case  amount  to  more  than  four  guineas  per  annum,  unless 
such  club  specially  authorise  their  representative  to  exceed  that 
amount. 


470        POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

21.  At  all  meetings  of  the  Council,  any  person  who  is  a  bona- 
Jide  member  of  an  Affiliated  Club  may  attend  and  speak  on  any 
motion  submitted,  but  only  members  of  the  Council  shall  vote. 
Council  shall  have  power  to  frame  byeilaws  for  the  management 
of  the  Association,  and  for  the  interests  of  the  game  generally. 
All  disputes  between  Clubs  or  in  connection  with  the  game,  or 
with  polo  sports,  etc.,  shall  be  referred  to  the  Council,  whose 
decision  shall  be  final. 

2  2.  These  Rules  shall  only  be  altered  or  added  to  by  a 
resolution  of  three-fourths  of  the  Council  of  the  Association,  and 
any  such  alteration  shall  be  submitted  for  confirmation  at  the 
next  General  Meeting  of  the  Association. 

PLAYING  RULES  ADOPTED  BY  THE  NEW 
SOUTH  WALES  POLO  ASSOCIATION 

1.  The  height  of  the  ponies  must  not  exceed  14  hands  i  inch, 
and  no  ponies  showing  vice  shall  be  played.  The  sticks  shall 
be  subject  to  the  umpire's  approval. 

2.  The  playing  ground  shall  be  300  yards  long  by  200  yards 
wide,  and  the  goals  shall  be  8  yards  wide  and  not  less  than  250 
yards  apart. 

3.  The  balls  shall  be  3  inches  in  diameter. 

4.  Each  side  shall  nominate  an  umpire,  unless  it  be  agreed  to 
play  with  one,  and  their  or  his  decision  shall  be  final.  In  im- 
portant matches,  a  referee  should  also  be  appointed,  whose 
decision  shall  be  final.  A  goal  umpire  for  each  goal  and  time- 
keeper shall  also  be  appointed. 

5.  In  all  matches  the  players  shall  be  four  a-side. 

6.  The  game  commences  by  both  sides  taking  up  their 
position  in  the  middle  of  the  ground  and  the  umpire  throwing 
the  ball  in  the  centre  of  the  ground. 

Duration  of  Play. 

7.  The  duration  of  play  in  a  match  shall  be  one  hour, 
divided  into  three  periods  of  twenty  minutes,  with  an  interval 
of  ten  minutes  between  each  period. 


APPENDIX  471 

The  two  first  periods  of  play  shall  terminate  as  soon  as  the 
ball  goes  out  of  play  after  the  expiration  of  the  prescribed  time  : 
any  excess  of  time  in  either  of  the  first  two  periods  due  to  the 
ball  remaining  in  play  being  deducted  from  the  succeeding 
periods.  The  last  period  shall  terminate  immediately  on  the 
expiration  of  the  hour's  play  although  the  ball  is  still  in  play. 

Exception, 
In  case  of  a  tie  the  last  period  shall  be  prolonged  till  the  ball 
goes  out  of  play,  and  if  still  a  tie,  after  an  interval  of  ten  minutes 
the  ball  shall  be  started  from  where  it  went  out  of  play,  and  the 
game  continued  as  before,  with  the  goals  widened  to  44  feet, 
until  one  side  obtain  a  goal,  which  shall  determine  the  match. 

Changing  Ponies. 

8.  As  soon  as  the  ball  goes  out  of  play  after  the  expiration 
of  the  first  ten  minutes  of  each  period  of  play,  the  game  shall 
be  suspended  for  sufficient  time,  not  exceeding  three  minutes, 
to  enable  players  to  change  ponies.  With  the  above  exception 
play  shall  be  continuous,  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  umpire 
to  throw  in  the  ball  punctually,  and  in  the  event  of  unnecessary 
delay  in  hitting  out  the  ball,  to  call  upon  the  ofi^ending  side  to 
proceed  at  once.  Any  change  of  ponies  except  according  to 
the  above  provision  shall  be  at  the  risk  of  the  player. 

Bell. 

9.  A  bell  should  be  rung  to  signify  the  time  for  changing 
ponies,  and  at  the  termination  of  each  period  of  play. 

10.  An  official  time-keeper  shall  be  employed  in  all  important 
matches. 

Goals. 

11.  A  goal  is  gained  when  a  ball  is  driven  between  the  goal- 
posts and  clear  of  the  goal  line  by  any  of  the  players  or  their 
ponies. 

Over  Top  of  Goal-Posts. 

12.  If  a  ball  is  hit  above  the  top  of  the  goal-posts,  but,  in 
the  opinion  of  the  umpire,  between  them,  it  shall  be  deemed  a 
goal. 


472        POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

To  Win  Game.  ' 

13.  The  side  that  makes  most  goals  wins  the  game. 

Where  Ball  to  be  Hit  From  ;   Position  of  Players. 

14.  If  the  ball  be  hit  behind  the  back  line  by  one  of  the 
opposite  side,  the  defending  side  shall  hit  off  as  near  as  possible 
to  where  it  crossed  the  line,  and  none  of  the  attacking  side 
shall  be  within  30  yards  of  the  back  line  till  it  is  hit.  If  the 
ball  be  hit  behind  the  back  line  by  one  of  the  side  whose  line 
it  is  they  shall  hit  it  off  from  the  centre  of  the  goal  line  between 
the  posts,  and  all  the  defending  side  shall  remain  behind  the 
line  until  the  ball  is  hit  off,  the  attacking  side  being  free  to 
place  themselves  where  they  choose,  but  not  within  25  yards  of 
the  ball.  This  penalty  will  not  be  exacted  should  the  ball 
glance  off  either  a  pony  or  a  player. 

Ball  Thrown  In  by  Umpire. 

15.  When  the  ball  is  hit  out  of  bounds,  it  must  be  thrown 
into  the  ground  by  the  umpire,  from  the  exact  spot  where  it 
went  out  of  play,  in  a  direction  parallel  to  the  two  goal  lines 
and  between  the  opposing  ranks  of  players. 

No  Delay  Allowed. 
There  must  be  no  delay  whatsoever  or  any  consideration  for 
absent  players. 

Riding  Out  an  Antagonist ;  Crossing. 

16.  A  player  may  ride  out  an  antagonist,  or  interpose  his 
pony  before  his  antagonist,  so  as  to  prevent  the  latter  reaching 
the  ball,  but  he  may  not  cross  another  player  in  possession  of 
the  ball  except  at  such  a  distance  that  the  said  player  shall  not 
be  compelled  to  check  his  pony  to  avoid  a  collision. 

If  two  players  are  riding  from  different  directions  to  hit  the 
ball,  and  a  collision  appears  probable,  then  the  player  in  possession 
of  the  ball  (that  is,  who  last  hit  the  ball,  or  if  neither  have  hit 
the  ball,  the  player  who  is  coming  from  the  direction  from  which 
the  ball  was  last  hit)  must  be  given  way  to.  Provided  that  no 
player  shall  be  deemed  to  be  in  possession  of  the  ball  by  reason 
of  his  being  the  last  striker  if  he  shall  have  deviated  from  pursu- 


APPENDIX  473 

ing  the  exact  course  of  the  ball.  A  player  shall  be  considered 
to  ride  off  fairly  when  having  placed  himself  abreast  of  an 
adversary  (after  following  a  line  of  direction  as  nearly  as  possible 
parallel  to  that  in  which  his  adversary  is  moving)  he  gradually 
forces  him  from  or  prevents  his  continuing  in  the  direction  in 
which  he  is  riding. 

Penalty  for  Crossing  and  Dangerous  Play, 
In  case  of  an  infringement  of  the  rule  against  crossing,  or  in 
case  of  dangerous  riding  or  play,  the  umpire  shall  stop  the  game 
and  enforce  the  following  penalty  : — A  free  hit  from  a  spot 
50  yards  from  the  back  line  of  the  side  causing  the  foul  and  as 
nearly  as  possible  opposite  the  spot  where  the  foul  took  place, 
unless  the  foul  takes  place  less  than  50  yards  from  the  said  back 
line,  in  which  case  the  free  hit  shall  be  given  from  the  spot 
where  the  foul  occurred,  all  the  side  causing  the  foul  to  be  behind 
the  back  line,  but  not  between  the  goal-posts  until  the  ball  is 
hit  off.  If  time  has  been  called  before  the  penalty  is  enforced, 
it  shall  be  enforced  at  the  beginning  of  the  next  period,  or  the 
game  shall  be  continued  until  the  ball  has  been  hit  out  of 
bounds,  at  the  option  of  the  side  that  has  been  fouled. 

Crooking  Sticks. 

17.  No  player  shall  crook  his  adversary's  stick  unless  he  is 
on  the  same  side  of  the  adversary's  pony  as  the  ball,  or  in  a 
direct  line  behind,  and  his  stick  is  neither  under  nor  over  his 
adversary's  pony. 

Offside. 

18.  No  player  who  is  offside  shall  hit  the  ball,  or  shall  in 
any  way  prevent  the  opposite  side  from  reaching  or  hitting  the 
ball. 

Definition  of  Offside. 

A  player  is  offside  when,  at  the  time  of  the  ball  being  hit, 
he  has  no  one  of  the  opposite  side  nearer  the  adversaries'  goal 
line,  or  that  line  produced,  or  behind  that  line,  and  he  is  neither 
in  possession  of  the  ball  nor  behind  one  of  his  own  side  who  is 
in  possession  of  the  ball.  A  player,  if  offside,  remains  off-side 
until  the  ball  is  hit  or  hit  at  again. 


474        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

Rough  Play, 

19.  No  player  shall  seize  with  the  hand,  strike,  or  push  with 
the  head,  hand,  arm,  or  elbow,  but  a  player  may  push  with  his 
arm  above  the  elbow,  provided  the  elbow  be  kept  close  to  his 
side. 

Carrying  Ball. 

20.  A  player  may  not  carry  the  ball.  In  the  event  of  the 
ball  lodging  upon  or  against  a  player  or  pony  it  must  be 
immediately  dropped  on  the  ground  by  the  player  or  the  rider 
of  the  pony. 

21.  No  player  shall  intentionally  strike  his  pony  with  the 
head  of  his  polo  stick. 

Penalty  for  Foul. 

22.  Any  infringement  of  the  rules  constitutes  a  foul.  In 
case  of  an  infringement  of  Rules  17,  19,  20,  and  21,  the  umpire 
shall  stop  the  game  ;  and  in  case  of  an  infringement  of  Rule  18 
the  umpire  shall  stop  the  game  on  an  appeal  by  any  one  of  the 
side  which  has  been  fouled. 

On  the  game  being  stopped  as  above,  the  side  which  has 
been  fouled  may  claim  either  of  the  following  penalties  : — 

{a)  A  free  hit  from  where  the  ball  was  when  the  foul  took 
place,  none  of  the  opposing  side  to  be  within  10  yards  of  the  ball. 

(^)  That  the  side  which  caused  the  foul  take  the  ball  back 
and  hit  it  off  from  behind  their  own  goal  line. 

Penalty  for  Disabling  a  Player. 

23.  In  the  case  of  a  player  being  disabled  by  a  foul,  the 
side  which  has  been  fouled  shall  have  a  right  to  designate  any  one 
of  the  players  on  the  opposite  side,  who  shall  retire  from  the 
game.  The  game  shall  be  continued  with  three  players  a-side, 
and  if  the  side  that  causes  the  foul  refuses  to  continue  the  game 
it  shall  thereby  lose  the  match.  This  penalty  shall  be  in 
addition  to  that  provided  by  Rule  22. 

Changing  Ends, 

24.  Ends  shall  be  changed  after  every  goal,  or,  if  no  goals 
have  been  obtained,  after  half-time. 


APPENDIX  475 

Ball  Out. 

25.  The  ball  must  go  over  and  clear  of  the  line  to  be  out. 

Damaged  Ball, 

26.  If  the  ball  be  damaged  the  umpire  must  at  once  stop 
the  game,  and  throw  in  a  new  ball,  at  the  place  where  it  was 
broken,  towards  the  nearest  side  of  the  ground  in  a  direction 
parallel  to  the  two  goal  lines,  and  between  the  opposing  ranks 
of  players. 

Broken  Sticks. 

27.  Should  a  player's  stick  be  broken,  he  must  ride  to  the 
place  where  the  sticks  are  kept  and  take  one.  On  no  account 
is  a  stick  to  be  brought  to  him. 

Dropped  Stick. 

28.  In  the  event  of  a  stick  being  dropped,  the  player  must  pick 
it  up  himself.     No  dismounted  player  is  allowed  to  hit  the  ball. 

Ground  Kept  Clear. 

29.  No  person  allowed  within  the  arena,  players,  umpires, 
and  manager  excepted. 

Accidents. 

30.  In  the  event  of  any  player  having  a  fall  or  being  hurt  in 
any  way  to  prevent  his  playing,  the  umpire  shall  stop  the  game, 
and  allow  time  for  the  dismounted  man  to  mount,  or  the  injured 
man  to  be  replaced.  On  play  being  recommenced,  the  ball 
shall  be  thrown  in  where  it  was  when  the  accident  occurred. 

Where  Ball  Thrown  In. 

31.  On  play  being  resumed  the  ball  shall  be  thrown  in 
where  it  was  when  the  game  was  stopped,  and  in  the  manner 
provided  for  in  Rule  26. 

Disregarding  Umpire^ s  Decision. 

32.  Any  deliberate  disregard  of  the  umpire  shall  involve  the 
disqualification  of  the  team  so  offending. 

Umpire'' s  Power  to  Decide  all  Disputes. 

33.  Should  any  incident  or  question  arise  that  is  not  provided 
for  in  these  Rules,  such  incident  or  question  to  be  decided  by 
the  umpire. 


476        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 


RESULTS  OF  CHIEF  TOURNAMENTS 

OPEN  CHAMPION  CUP 

Conditions. 

1.  Open  to  any  Polo  Teams. 

2.  The  entries,  naming  colours,  to  be  made  on  or  before 
5  p.m.  on  the  Wednesday  prior  to  the  week  of  competition. 

3.  The  respective  teams  to  be  drawn,  and  the  said  draw  to 
take  place  on  Wednesday,  at  5  p.m.,  prior  to  the  week  of 
competition. 

4.  The  Captain  of  each  team  to  name  his  four  players  at 
time  of  entry. 

5.  Unless  three  Teams  contend,  the  Cup  may  be  withheld. 

Placed  at  Hurlingham. 

1904.        Old    Cantabs — W.    M'Creery,     Capt.    Heseltine,    F. 
June  II.  Freake,  W.  Buckmaster.     Won  by  7  goals  to  i 

from  Handley  Cross.     Entries,  8. 
1903.        Rugby — Walter  Jones,   G.  A.  Miller,  E.  D.    Miller, 
June  27.  C.  D.  Miller.     Won  by  4  goals  to   1   from  Old 

Oxonians.     Entries,  7. 
1902.         Freebooters — H.  Brassey,  A.  Rawlinson,  W.  S.  Buck- 
July  5.  master,  L.  Waterbury.     Won  by  8  goals  to  i  from 

Black  and  Tans.     Entries,  4. 
1901.        Rugby — W.  Jones,   G.  A.   Miller,    Capt.  E.   Miller, 
June  15.  C.  D.  Miller.     Won  by  6  goals  to  3  from  Old 

Cantabs.     Entries,  5. 
1900.        Old    Cantabs— W.  M'Creery,  F.  Freake,   W.  Buck- 
June  28.  master,  L.  M'Creery.     Won  by  3  goals  to  i  from 

Hurlingham.     Entries,  6. 


APPENDIX 

47' 

1899. 

Rugby. 

1887. 

Freebooters. 

1898. 

Rugby. 

1886. 

Freebooters. 

1897. 

Rugby. 

1885. 

Sussex. 

1896. 

Freebooters. 

1884. 

Freebooters. 

1895. 

Freebooters. 

1883. 

Sussex,  w.o. 

1894. 

Freebooters. 

1882. 

Sussex. 

1893. 

Sussex,  w.o. 

1881. 

Sussex. 

1892. 

Sussex. 

1880. 

Sussex. 

1891. 

Sussex. 

1879. 

Hurlingham. 

1890. 

Sussex. 

1878. 

Monmouthshire. 

1889. 

Sussex. 

1877. 

Monmouthshire      an 

i888. 

Sussex. 

Tyros  played  a  tie. 

OPEN  CHALLENGE  CUP 


Played  at  Ranelagh. 


1904. 
June  25. 

1903. 
June  4. 

1902. 
June  29. 

1901. 
June  30. 

1900. 
July  14. 

1899. 
1898. 


Roehampton — Capt.    H.    Wilson,     M.    Nickalls,    P. 

Nickalls,  Capt.  H.  Lloyd.     Won  by  7  goals  to  4 

from  Old  Cantabs.     Entries,  6. 
Old    Cantabs— W.  M*Creery,   F.  Freake,  W.  Buck- 
master,  Capt.  Heseltine.     Won  by  4  goals  to  i 

from  Rugby.     Entries,  7. 
Rugby- — W.   Jones,    Lord    Shrewsbury,    Capt.    E.   D. 

Miller,  C.  D.  Miller.    Won  by  5  goals  to  4  from 

Old  Oxonians.      Entries,  4. 
Rugby — W.  Jones,    G.  A.   Miller,   Lord   Shrewsbury 

(and  E.  D.   Miller),  C.  D.  Miller.     Won  by  6 

goals  to  2  from  Old  Cantabs.     Entries,  6. 
Old     Cantabs— W.    M'Creery,    F.    M.    Freake,     W. 

Buckmaster,  L.  M'Creery.     Won  by  5  goals  to  i 

from  Freebooters.     Entries,  5. 
Freebooters.  l  1897.     Ranelagh. 

Freebooters.  |  1896.     Rugby. 


478        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 


1904. 

July  9. 

1903. 
July  II. 

1902. 
1901. 
1900. 
1899. 
1898. 

1897. 

1896. 
1895. 
1894. 
1893. 
1892. 
1891. 


INTER-REGIMENTAL  CUP 

Played  at  Hurling  ham. 

17th    Lancers — Capt.   Garden,   Major    Tilney,  A.  F. 

Fletcher,  Col.  Portal.  Won  by  7  goals  to  6  from 

Royal  Horse  Guards.  Entries,  17. 
17th     Lancers — Capt.     Carden,     Major    Tilney,    A, 

Fletcher,  Col.  Haig.  Won  by  5  goals  to  i  from 
R.H.G.     Entries,  16. 

Not  played.  1890.     9th  Lancers. 

Not  played.  1889.     9th  Lancers. 

Not  played.  1888.      loth  Hussars. 

7th  Hussars.  1887.     5th  Lancers. 

6th    Inniskilling  1886.     7th  Hussars. 

Dragoons.  1885.     7th  Hussars. 

6th    Inniskilling  1884.     7th  Hussars. 

Dragoons.  1883.     7th  Hussars. 

9th  Lancers.  1882.     5th  Lancers. 

13th  Hussars.  1881.      1 6th  Lancers. 

13th  Hussars.  1880.      i6th  Lancers, 

loth  Hussars.  1879.     5^^  Lancers. 

13th  Hussars.  1878.     5th  Lancers. 
9th  Lancers. 


1904. 
July  16. 

1903. 
1902. 
1901. 
1900. 


SUBALTERNS'  CUP 

Played  at  Ranelagh. 

2nd  Life  Guards — R.  J.  Ogilby,  Lord  Montgomerie, 
R.  G.  Duff,  H.  C.  Ashton.  Won  by  5  goajs  to  4 
from  5th  Lancers.     Entries,  5. 

No  Tournament.  1899.     7th  Hussars. 

No  Tournament.  1898.     Royal  Horse  Guards. 

No  Tournament.  1897.     Royal  Horse  Guards, 

No  Tournament.  1896.     9th  Lancers. 


APPENDIX  479 

ALDERSHOT  CUP 

Played  at  Ranelagh  in  one  day. 

1904.         Aldershot     Staff — Capt.    Smith,    Col,    Gough,    Major 
June  21.  Barry,  Major  Vaughan.      Won  by  6  goals  to   i 

from  2 1  St  Lancers.     Entries,  15. 
1903.         1 8th    Hussars — H.    Cape,    Capt.  J.  L.  Wood,   Capt. 
July  I.  Stuart,  J.  H.  Gosling.     Won  by  7  goals  to  i  from 

R.H.G.     Entries,  8. 


COUNTY  CUP 

Final  and  Semi-finals  played  at  Hurlingham. 

1904.        Cirencester — J.  Mason,  Hon.  A.  Hastings,  R.  Barker, 
July  16.  J.   Adamthwaite.      Won    by   4  goals   to    i    from 

Hutton.     Entries,  10. 
1903.         Blackmore  Vale — A.  Tyrwhitt-Drake,  J.  Hargreaves,. 
July  18.  F.  Hargreaves,  M.  de  Las  Casas.    Won  by  8  goals 

to  2  from  Eden  Park.     Entries,  10. 
1902.         Eden  Park — L.  Bucknall,  J.  C.  de  Las  Casas,  A.  de  Las 
July  5.  Casas,  H.  Cardwell.     Won  by  4  goals  to  i  from 

Blackmore  Vale. 
1 90 1.        Eden    Park — H.    Rich,    P.   Bullivant,    H.    Marsham, 
July  6.  H.  Cardwell.     Won  by  6  goals  to  2  from  Rugby. 

Entries,  15. 
1900.         Rugby — J.  Drage,  Comte  J.  de  Madre,  K.  Marsham, 
July  7.  Sir  H.  de  Trafford.     Won  by  5  goals  to  i  from 

Stansted. 
1899.     Stansted. 
1898.     Chislehurst. 
1897.     Rugby. 
1896.     Stansted. 


895. 

Rugby. 

894. 

Edinburgh. 

893. 

Edinburgh. 

892. 

Meath. 

480 


POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 


1891. 

Liverpool. 

1890. 

Berkshire. 

1889. 

Barton. 

1888. 

Kent. 

1887. 
1886. 
1885. 


Derbyshire,  w.o. 
Gloucestershire. 
Gloucestershire. 


1904. 


1903. 
May  23. 
1902. 
May  27. 

1901. 
May  25. 

1900. 
May  26. 


HUNT  CHALLENGE  CUP 

Played  at  Ranelagh. 

Warwickshire  Hunt — H.  Rich,  Major  Vaughan,  F. 
Freake,  W.  Buckmaster.  No  final  match.  Essex 
Union  withdrew. 

Warwickshire  Hunt— W.  M'Creery,  F.  Freake,  W.  S. 
Buckmaster,  F.  Hargreaves.     Walk  over. 

Warwickshire  Hunt — A.  Dugdale,  Lord  Southampton, 
F.  Hargreaves,  Capt.  D.  Daly.  Won  by  9  goals 
to  2  from  Devon  and  Somerset.     Entries,  4. 

Pytchley— C.  P.  Nickalls,  M.  Nickalls,  W.  S.  Buck- 
master,  J.  Drage.  Won  by  7  goals  to  4  from 
Warwickshire.     Entries,  7. 

Pytchley — G.  W.  M*Ivor,  Capt.  Renton,  W.  Buck- 
master,  Comte  J.  de  Madre.  Won  from  Warwick- 
shire by  3  goals  to  i.     Entries,  5. 


1899. 
1898. 


Pytchley. 
Warwickshire. 


897.     Muskerry. 


1904. 
May  17. 


SOCIAL  CLUBS'  CUP 

Played  at  Hurlingham. 

White's— Capt.  H.  Wilson,  Capt.  G.  Heseltine,  Col. 
W.  G.  Renton,  P.  W.  Nickalls.  Won  by  8  goals 
to  3  from  Orleans.     Entries,  6. 


APPENDIX  481 

1903.        White's — Lord    Shrewsbury,   G.  Miller,  P.  Nickalls, 
May  25.  CD.  Miller.    Won  by  5  goals  to  2  from  Orleans. 

Entries,  6. 
1902.         Orleans — F.    Menzies,    F.    Freake,    W.    Buckmaster, 
May  17.  F.    Hargreaves.      Won    by    8    goals    to    4    from 

Wellington.     Entries,  6. 
1 90 1.        Orleans — F.     Hargreaves,     F.    Menzies,    F.     Freake, 
May  18.  L.    M'Creery.       Won     by    4    goals    to    2    from 

Wellington.     Entries,  8. 
1900.        Pitt — C.    D.    Miller,     F.    Freake,    W.    Buckmaster, 
May  19.  L.    M'Creery.       Won    by    7    goals     to    2    from 

Raleigh.     Entries,  4. 
1899.     Nimrod.  1897.     White's. 

1898.     Raleigh. 


NOVICES'  CUP 

Played  at  Ranelagh. 

1904,         Tiverton — M.,  J.  C,  A.,  and  L.  de  Las  Casas.     Won 
June  II.  by  5  goals   to  4  from   Mr.  J.  B.  Dale's  Team. 

Entries  14. 
1903.        Mr.  Grenfell's  Team — R.  Grenfell,  Major  Grenfell, 
June  27.  F.  Grenfell,  G.  Ezra.     Won  by  6  goals  to  2  from 

Household  Brigade.     Entries,  12. 
1902.        Trekkers — G.     Brassey,     Capt.     L.     Jenner,     Capt. 
June  25.  Schreiber,  U.  Thynne.      Won  by   10  goals  to  I 

from  Mr.  Stourton's  Team.     Entries,  11. 
1 90 1.        Eden    Park — H.   Rich,    P.    Bullivant,    H.    Marsham, 
June  15.  L.    Bucknall.      Won     by    6    goals    to    2    from 

Trekkers.     Entries,  9. 
1900.        Trekkers — B.  Wilson,  L.  C.  D.  Jenner,  A.  Stourton, 
June  23.  F.     Menzies.       Won    by    7    goals    to    2    from 

Northerners.     Entries,  8. 
1899.     Trekkers.  I  1897.     Rovers. 

1898.     Trekkers.  I  1896.     Fulham  Rovers. 

2  I 


482        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

JUNIOR  CHAMPIONSHIP  CHALLENGE  CUP 

Played  at  Roehampton. 

1904.         Roehampton  Wanderers — Capt.  V.  Beatty,  H.  Schwind, 
July  4.  Duke  of  Roxburghe,  F.  Menzies.    Won  by  6  goals 

to  5  from  Ranelagh  Wanderers.     Entries,  1 1 . 

1903.  R.H.G.— H.  E.  Brassey,  Capt.  Hon.  R.  Ward,  Duke 
July  4.  of  Roxburghe,  Capt.  Hon.  D.  Marjoribanks.    Won 

by  7  goals  to  3  from  Pelicans.     Entries,  13. 

ROEHAMPTON  CUP 

Played  at  Roehampton. 

1904.  Students — C.    Grenfell,    R.    Grenfell,    M.    Nickalls, 
July  16.  C.  D.  Miller.     Won  by  4  goals  to  i  from  Moon- 
lighters.    Entries,  6. 

1903.  Magpies — Capt.  L.  Jenner,  Capt.  G.  Heseltine,  Capt. 
July  II.  H.  Lloyd,   U.  Thynne.      Won  by  4  goals  to  2 

from  Old  Harrovians.     Entries,  6. 

1902.  Buccaneers — H.   Brassey,    Capt.    Hon.    R.  Ward,   F. 
July  25.  Menzies,  Hon.  D.  Marjoribanks.     Won  by  8  goals 

to  2  from  Springhill.     Entries,  8. 

PUBLIC  SCHOOLS'  CUP 

Played  at  Roehampton. 

1904.  Old  Harrovians — W.  Jones,   Col.   Renton,   Capt.   E. 
June  18.  Miller,  Capt.  Hon.  D.  Marjoribanks.     Won  by 

3  goals  to  2  from  Old  Rugbeians.     Entries,  5. 

1903.  Old     Marlburians — Capt.    Jenner,    E.    B.    Sheppard, 
Aug.  I.  G.  A.  Miller,  C.  D.  Miller.     Won  by  5  goals 

to  2  from  Old  Harrovians.     Entries,  4. 
1902.        Old    Marlburians — Capt.    Jenner,     E.    B.    Sheppard, 
July  19.  G.  A.  Miller,   C.  D.  Miller.      Won  by  8  goals 

to  4  from  Old  Etonians.     Entries,  5. 


APPENDIX  483 

Played  at  Ranelagh. 

1 90 1.         Old  Marlburians — Capt.  L.  Jenner,  E.  B.  Sheppard, 
July  13.  G.  A.  Miller,  C.  D.  Miller.     Won  by  4  goals 

to  I  from  Old  Etonians.     Entries,  5. 


INTERNATIONAL  MATCH 

England  v,  Ireland 

Played  alternately  at  Hurlingham  and  in  Dublin. 

1904.         England — Lord  Shrewsbury,  A.  Rawlinson,  W.  Buck- 
July  2.  master,   P.  W.  Nickalls.     Won  by  5  goals  to  3 
from  Ireland, 


ALL  IRELAND  OPEN  CUP 
Played  at  Phoenix  Park. 

1904.        Woodpeckers — W.    Bass,    Hon.    A.    Hastings,     Capt. 

Wilson,    Capt.    Lloyd    (substitute    Capt.    E.    D. 

Miller).       Won     by    6    goals    to    5    from    Irish 

Counties  Polo  Club  Union.     Entries,  8. 
1903.         Woodpeckers,  from  Irish  Counties  Polo  Club  Union. 
1902.         Wanderers,  from  Freebooters. 
1 90 1.        Nomads — P.  W.  Nickalls,   Capt.   Steeds,  G.   Miller, 

C.    D.    Miller.       Won    by   4   goals    to    3    from 

Wan<j.erers.     Entries,  8. 
1900.         Freebooters — F.  Hargreaves,  Capt.  Hon.  J.  Beresford, 

(and  D.  Haig),  F.  M.  Freake,  J.  Watson.     Won 

by  3  goals  to  2  from  County  Sligo.     Entries,  6. 


1899. 

6th    Inniskilling 

1896. 

13  th  Hussars. 

Dragoons. 

1895. 

Freebooters. 

1898. 

Rugby. 

1894. 

15th  Hussars. 

1897. 

Rugby. 

1893- 

13th  Hussars. 

484        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 


1892. 

9th  Lancers. 

1884. 

5th  Lancers. 

I89I. 

13th  Hussars. 

1883. 

Carlow. 

1890. 

All  Ireland  P.C. 

1882. 

All  Ireland  P.C. 

1889. 

Freebooters. 

1881. 

5th  Lancers. 

1888. 

All  Ireland  P.C. 

1880. 

Scots  Greys. 

1887. 

All  Ireland  P.C. 

1879. 

7th  Hussars. 

1886. 

Freebooters. 

1878. 

7th  Royal  Fusiliers 

1885. 

Freebooters. 

IRISH  COUNTY  CUP 


1904. 
Aug.  20. 

1903. 
Aug.  23. 

1902.1 
Aug.  22. 

1 90 1. 


1900. 
Aug.  25. 

1899. 
1898. 
1897. 
1896. 
1895. 


Played  at  Phcenix  Park. 

North  Westmeath — A.  Rotheram,  H.  Wilson,    P.  P. 

O'Reilly,   R.  O'Reilly.      Won   by  8  goals  to  3 

from  King's  County.     Entries,  9. 
North  Westmeath — A.  Rotheram,  H.  Wilson,  P.  P. 

O'Reilly,   R.  O'Reilly.      Won  by   5   goals  to  4 

from  County  Sligo.     Entries,  10. 
County    Sligo— P.    W.    Conolly,   H.  G.   L'Estrange, 

Major  O'Hara,  J.  Fitzgerald.      Won  by  6  goals 

to  2  from  North  Westmeath.     Entries,  6. 
County    Sligo  — G.    M.    Eccles,    W.    Campbell,    C. 

O'Hara,  J.  Fitzgerald.     Won  from  Co.  Carlow. 

Entries,  7. 
County    Sligo— P.    W.    Conolly,    W.    Campbell,    C. 

O'Hara,  J.  Fitzgerald.     Won  by  8  goals  to  2  from 

County  Carlow.     Entries,  4. 


County  Sligo. 
County  Sligo. 
County  Westmeath. 
County  Westmeath. 
County  Sligo. 


1894.  County  Sligo. 

1893.  County  Meath. 

1892.  County  Fermanagh. 

1 89 1.  County  Fermanagh. 

1890.  County  Fermanagh. 


1  This  being  the  third  consecutive  victory,  the  County  Sligo  team  become 
the  owners  of  the  Cup. 


APPENDIX 


485 


ALL  IRELAND  REGIMENTAL  CHALLENGE  CUP 


1904. 
Sept.  3. 

1903. 
Sept.  2. 


Played  at  Phcenix  Park. 

ith  Hussars. — Capt.  Pitman,  Capt.  Richardson,  P. 
Fitzgerald,  L.  Lakin.  Won  by  9  goals  to  3  from 
6th  Inniskilling  Dragoons.     Entries,  2. 

Ith  Hussars. — L.  Lakin,  Capt.  Pitman,  P.  Fitzgerald, 
Capt.  Richardson.  Won  by  4  goals  to  3  from 
6th  Inniskilling  Dragoons.     Entries,  4. 


1902. 
1901. 
1900. 
1899. 
1898. 

1897. 

1896. 
1895. 


Not  played. 
Not  played. 
Not  played. 
17th  Lancers. 
6th    Inniskilling 

Dragoons. 
6th    Inniskilling 

Dragoons. 
13th  Hussars. 
13th  Hussars. 


1894. 
1893. 
1892. 
1891. 
1890. 


887. 
886. 


loth  Hussars. 
9th  Lancers. 
13  th  Hussars. 
15th  Hussars. 
4th  Hussars. 
4th  Hussars. 
3rd  Hussars. 
1 6th  Lancers, 
loth  Hussars, 


RUGBY 


1904.        Moonlighters— C.  T.  Garland,  C.  Nickalls,  J.  B.  Dale, 

Aug.  6.  H.  Scott  Robson.      Won   by  2   goals  to  i  from 

Roehampton.     Entries,  9. 

1903.         Springhill — Capt.    H.   Wilson,     E.    B.    Sheppard,   G. 

Aug.  8.    .  Miller,  C.  D.  Miller.     Won  by  6  goals  to  3  from 

Handley  Cross.     Entries,  10. 

1902.         Springhill — W.  Jones,  G.  A.  Miller,  E.  B.  Sheppard, 

Aug.  9.  U.  Thynne.     Won  by  5  goals  to  3  from  Springhill 

Farm.     Entries,  6. 

1901.        Tournament  not  finished. 

1900.        Rugby— W.  Jones,  M.  Nickalls,  G.  A.  Miller,  P.  W. 

Aug.  II.  Nickalls.     Won  by  4  goals  to  2  from  Mr.  Buck- 

master's  Team. 


486        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 


1899. 

Tournament  not 

1896. 

Rugby. 

finished. 

1895. 

Freebooters 

1898. 

Old  Cantabs. 

1894. 

Cheshire. 

1897. 

Winwick. 

1893. 

Rugby. 

CIRENCESTER 

1904.        Avebury  Manor — J.  Bellville,  Capt.  L.  Jenner,  Major 
Aug.  13.  Egerton  Green,  Capt.  C.  de  Crespigny.     Won  by 

5  goals  to  4  from  Siddington.     Entries,  8. 
1903.        Ashton    House — W.    Burdon,    F.    Rich,    R.    Barker, 
Aug.  15.  J.    Adamthwaite.      Won    by  6    goals  to   2   from 

Siddington.     Entries,  8. 
1902.        Siddington — W.    Burdon,    H.    Rich,    R.    Barker,    J. 
Aug.  16.  Adamthwaite.       Won    by    3     goals    to    i    from 

Wanderers.     Entries,  8. 
1 901.        Wanderers — P.  C.  Buckle,  F.  Freake,   G.  Heseltine, 
Aug.  17.  F.  O.  Ellison.     Won  by  3  goals  to  i  from  Water- 

moor.     Entries,  7. 
1900.        Cirencester  A. — B.  C.  Burdo^n,  H.  Rich,  R.  R.  Barker, 
Aug.  II.  J.  Adamthwaite.     Won  by  14  goals  to  nil  from 

Cirencester  B.     Entries,  7. 


899.     Cirencester. 
898.     Kemble  Scorchers. 
897.      Mr.    J.    Drybrough's 
Team. 


896.     Siddington  Wanderers. 
895.      Scots  Greys. 


WARWICKSHIRE 

Placed  at  Leamington. 

1904.         Friz  Hill — W.   M'Creery,   J.  Hargreaves,   F.  Freake, 
July  30.  F.  Hargreaves.     Won  by  7  goals  to  2  from  Strat- 

ford.    Entries,  10. 
1903.         Mr.  Buckmaster's  Team — W.  M'Creery,  W.  Holden, 
Aug.  I.  W.  Buckmaster,  F.  Bellville.     Won  by  6  goals  to 

3  from  Butler's  Marston.     Entries,  7. 


1899. 

Old  Cantabs. 

1898. 

Winwick. 

1897. 

Winwick. 

1896. 

Rugby. 

APPENDIX  487 

c)02.  Mr.  Buckmaster's  Team — F.  O.  Ellison,  F.  M.  Freake, 
W.  S.  Buckmaster,  T.  Dingle.  Won  by  8  goals 
to  3  from  Beauchamp  Hall.  Entries,  7. 
[901.  Old  Cantabs— G.  Heseltine,  F.  Freake,  W.  S.  Buck- 
master  (C.  D.  Miller),  F.  Hargreaves.  Won  by 
6  goals  to  I  from  Beauchamp  Hall.  Entries,  5. 
[900.  W.  S.  Buckmaster's  Team — F.  J.  Mackey,  F.  M. 
Freake,  W.  S.  Buckmaster,  M.  R.  Duval.  Won 
by  8  goals  to  I  from  Rugby.     Entries,  9. 

895.     Capt.    E.  D.  Miller's 

Team. 
894.     Capt.    E.  D.   Miller's 
Team. 


BLACKMORE  VALE 

Played  at  Purse  Caundle. 

1904.        Avebury  Manor — M.  de  Las  Casas,  Capt.  S.  Jenner, 
Aug.  20.  Major   Egerton   Green,   Capt.   C.   de   Crespigny. 

Won  by  7  goals   to  love  from  Blackmore  Vale. 

Entries,  10. 
1903.        Ashton     House  —  W.    Burdon,    F.    Rich,    R.    Barker, 
Aug.  22.  J.    Adamthwaite.      Won    by    3    goals   to   2    from 

Blackmore  Vale.     Entries,  7. 
1902.         Wanderers — P.   C.  Buckle,  Capt.  Heseltine,  F.  Bell- 
Aug.  23.  ville,   Capt.  Neil   Haig.     Won  by   5   goals  to  4 

from  Ashton  House.     Entries,  7. 

THE  INDIAN  POLO  ASSOCIATION  ANNUAL 
CHAMPIONSHIP  TOURNAMENT 

A  Challenge  Cup,  presented  by  the  Indian  Polo  Association, 
will  be  played  for  each  year,  as  soon  as  possible  after  the  Inter- 
Regimental  Tournament. 

This  cup,  which  will  remain  in  the  possession  of  the  winning 
team  till  the  next  year,  cannot  be  won  outright.     It  will  be 


488        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

competed  for  under  the  Indian  Polo  Association  Rules  of  Polo, 
with  the  following  conditions  :  — 

Conditions 

1.  Open  to  any  team. 

2.  Number  of  ponies  limited  to  24  per  team. 

3.  Place  and  date  to  be  decided  by  the  Executive  Committee, 
I.P.A.,  after  the  date  of  closing  of  the  first  entries. 

4.  First  entries,  closed  on  ist  Dec,  Rs.ioo. 
Second  entries,  closed  on  1st  Jan.,  Rs.150. 

Third  entries,  closed  at  drawing  at  the  commencement 
of  the  Tournament,  Rs.200. 

5.  After  deducting  the  expenses  of  the  Tournament  the 
balance  of  money  received  from  entry  fees  will  be  paid  to  the 
winning  team. 

The  right  is  reserved  to  the  Executive  Committee  of 
modifying  or  altering  the  Conditions  of  the  Championship 
Tournament. 

Winners 
No  Tournament. 
No  Tournament. 

Ulwar  State  from  Jodhpore  Durbar. 
Ulwar  State  from  H.H.M.  Urjin  Singh's  Team. 
Freebooters  from  Chutter  Munzil. 


1904 
1903 
1902 
1901 
1900 


INTER-REGIMENTAL  POLO  TOURNAMENT 
Rules  for  the  Regulation  of  the  Tournament,  1903-4 

I.  Open  to  any  Regiment  of  British  Cavalry,  Battalion  of 
Infantry,  Royal  Engineers,  or  Royal  Artillery  of  any  one 
Presidency  ;  or  any  two  regiments  of  Native  Cavalry  or  Native 
Infantry  of  one  district  may  combine  to  form  one  team.  No 
native  shall  play  in  a  Tournament. 

2.  The  entrance  fee  shall  be  Rs.120. 

First  entries  to  close  on  ist  November  in  each  year.  Those 
regiments  entering  by  that  date  to  vote  as  to  date  and  place 


APPENDIX  489 

where  the  Tournament  shall  be  held,  when  an  Honorary- 
Secretary  shall  be  elected  by  the  British  Cavalry  Regiments 
stationed  at  the  place  appointed. 

Second  entries  may  be  made  up  to  within  one  month  of  the 
date  fixed  for  the  commencement  of  the  Tournament. 

3.  A  regiment  entering  for  the  Inter-Regimental  Polo 
Tournament,  which  has  not  previously  subscribed  towards  the 
Challenge  Cup,  shall  pay  a  subscripton  of  _£  10  in  addition  to  the 
entrance  fee.  This  to  go  to  winning  team,  if  balance  debit  for 
cup  has  been  paid. 

4.  The  Tournament  to  be  played  under  the  Rules  of  the 
Indian  Polo  Association. 

5.  The  Tournament  shall  be  under  the  management  of  three 
Stewards,  who  shall  be  elected  by  the  Honorary  Secretary. 

6.  There  shall  be  a  right  of  appeal  to  the  Stewards  upon  all 
questions  which  are  not  by  these  rules  declared  to  be  subject  to 
the  final  decision  of  some  other  authority  such  as  Umpires,  etc., 
and  the  decision  of  the  Stewards  in  all  such  appeals  shall  be  final. 

7.  Any  question  which  may  arise  in  the  course  of  the 
Tournament,  which  is  not  provided  for  by  these  rules,  shall  be 
referred  for  decision  to  the  Stewards,  who  may,  if  they  think  fit, 
refer  the  matter  to  a  Committee  of  five  Members  of  the  Indian 
Polo  Association,  whose  decision  shall  be  final. 

8.  This  Committee  of  I.P.A.  to  consist  of  a  representative 
of  the  British  Cavalry  and  Infantry  and  Native  Cavalry, 
nominated  by  their  respective  branches.  The  remaining  two 
members  to  be  chosen  by  these  three. 

9.  Any  two  Stewards  and  the  Polo  Secretary  shall  form  a 
quorum  for  the  transaction  of  all  matters  contemplated  by  these 
rules. 

10.  Each  team  shall  be  composed  of  four  players,  who  shall 
not  be  changed  during  the  meeting,  unless  through  any  accident, 
sickness,  or  unavoidable  absence  any  of  them  are  not  able  to  play, 
when  the  Stewards  shall  have  the  power  of  allowing  the  team  to 
be  made  up  by  other  players  of  the  same  regiment. 


490        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

11.  The  number  of  ponies  to  be  limited  to  twenty-four.  No 
pony  shall  play  for  two  different  regiments  during  one  Tourna- 
ment. The  duration  of  play  shall  be  forty  minutes,  viz.  8 
periods  of  5  minutes. 

12.  Ponies  shall  be  bona  fide  and  unconditionally  the  property 
of  the  Officers,  Non-Commissioned  Officers,  or  men  of  the 
Regiment  or  Batteries  which  the  team  represents. 

13.  Captains  of  teams  to  certify  as  to  ownership  of  ponies 
(if  required  to  do  so)  before  play  begins. 

14.  The  order  in  which  theseveral  matches  of  a  Tournament 
shall  be  played  shall  be  decided,  in  the  first  instance,  by  drawing 
lots.  The  lots  shall  be  drawn  at  such  time  and  in  such  manner 
as  may  be  directed  by  the  Stewards.  If,  however,  by  reason  of 
any  team  being  unable  to  arrive  in  time  for  the  commencement  of 
any  Tournament,  or  for  any  other  reason,  the  order  of  play  decided 
by  the  drawing  of  lots  cannot  be  observed,  the  order  of  play 
shall  in  such  case  be  decided  by  the  Stewards,  who  shall  be 
guided  in  their  decision  by  what  they  consider  to  be  fair,  having 
regard  to  the  interest  of  all  the  teams.    \ 

15.  The  duration  of  play  and  the  number  of  ponies  allowed 
to  be  played  by  teams  in  a  Tournament  shall  be  decided  by  the 
local  Stewards  of  each  Tournament,  provided  that  the  maximum 
duration  of  play  in  any  match  does  not  exceed  forty  minutes 
exclusive  of  stoppages. 

Winners 


1904. 

15th  Hussars 

won  fro 

m  9th  Lancers. 

1903. 

15th  Hussars 

» 

loth  Hussars. 

1902. 

15th  Hussars 

i> 

4th  Dragoon  Guards, 

I90I. 

20th  Hussars 

»» 

1 5th  Hussars. 

1900. 

4th  Hussars 

»> 

3rd  Rifle  Brigade. 

1899. 

4th  Hussars 

»5 

4th  Dragoons. 

1898. 

Durham  L.I. 

7» 

4th  Dragoons. 

1897. 

Durham  L.I. 

»» 

1 6th  Lancers. 

1896. 

Durham  L.I. 

•>"> 

5th  Dragoon  Guards. 

1895. 

7th  Hussars 

J» 

1 8th  Hussars. 

APPENDIX 


491 


1894. 

Queen's  Bays  won  fron: 

I  5th  Lancers. 

1893. 

Queen's  Bays 

»» 

1 6th  Lancers. 

1892. 

Queen's  Bays 

j> 

7th  Hussars. 

I89I. 

7th  Hussars 

If 

7th  Dragoon  Guards. 

1890. 

5th  Lancers  (ist 

team) 

won  from  17th  Lancers. 

1889. 

17th  Lancers 

„         7th  Dragoon  Guards, 

1888. 

17th  Lancers 

„         7th  Hussars. 

1887. 

8th  Hussars 

„          Carbineers. 

1886. 

8th  Hussars 

„          Carbineers. 

1885. 

9th  Lancers 

„          8th  Hussars. 

1884. 

9th  Lancers 

„          8th  Hussars. 

1883. 

9th  Lancers 

Rifle  Brigade. 

1882. 

loth  Hussars 

Rifle  Brigade. 

I88I. 

1 0th  Hussars 

Rifle  Brigade. 

1880. 

1879. 
1878. 

!■  No  Tournament 

on  account  of  Afghan  War. 

9th  Lancers  won 

from 

loth  Hussars. 

1877. 

9th  Lancers 

jj 

1 0th  Hussars. 

INFANTRY  POLO  TOURNAMENT 

Bye-Laws 

[j4s  amended  at  a  Meeting  on  z\th  February  1903.] 

1.  The  Infantry  Polo  Tournament  will  be  held  under  the 
rules  of  the  Indian  Polo  Association. 

2.  An  annual  meeting  will  be  held  during  the  week,  of  the 
Tournament  ;  no  alteration  shall  be  made  in  these  Bye-Laws 
except  at  that  meeting. 

Any  proposition  or  alteration  in  Bye-Laws  that  it  is  intended 
to  bring  forward  should  be  sent  to  the  Honorary  Secretary 
twenty-four  hours  before  the  meeting.  A  representative  from 
any  Regiment  subscribing  to  the  current  Tournament  shall  have 
a  vote  ;  no  others  entitled  to  vote. 

3.  The  Infantry  Polo  Tournament  shall  be  open  to  a  team 


492 


POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 


from  any   Battalion   of   British    Infantry  or    any   Regiment    of 
Native  Infantry. 

4.  Each  team  shall  be  composed  of  four  officers  belonging  to 
the  Battalion  or  Regiment,  who  shall  not  be  changed  during  the 
meeting,  unless  through  any  accident,  sickness,  or  unavoidable 
absence  any  of  them  are  not  able  to  play,  in  which  case  the 
local  Stewards  shall  have  the  power  of  allowing  the  team  to  be 
made  up  by  other  officers  of  the  same  Battalion  or  Regiment. 
Seconded  officers  shall  not  be  allowed  to  play. 

5.  The  entrance  fee  shall  be  Rs.120  per  team,  of  which 
Rs.ioo  shall  be  paid  to  the  winning  team,  and  Rs.20  to  a  current 
account  for  defraying  the  incidental  expenses  of  the  Tournament 
from  year  to  year.  Donations  from  teams  not  competing  shall  be 
paid  to  the  winning  team. 

6.  The  first  entries  will  close  on  the  30th  November  in  each 
year.  These  entries  and  the  votes  as  to  date  and  place  of  playing 
the  Tournament  to  be  sent,  registered,  together  with  the  full 
entrance  fee  to  the  Honorary  Secretary,  Infantry  Polo  Tourna- 
ment, at  the  station  where  the  Tournament  was  played  the 
previous  year.  Second  entries  can  be  made  up  to  within  a  week 
of  the  date  fixed  for  the  commencement  of  the  Tournament. 

7.  Only  those  Battalions  or  Regiments  who  enter  and  pay 
their  full  entrance  fee  by  November  30th,  have  a  right  to  vote  in 
deciding  the  date  and  the  place  where  the  Tournament  is  to  be 
held.  This  decision  will  be  taken  on  the  votes  given  with  the 
first  entries,  and  an  Honorary  Secretary  in  the  station  where  the 
Tournament  is  to  be  held  shall  at  once  be  asked  to  act  by  the 
Honorary  Secretary  of  the  Infantry  Polo  Tournament  of  the 
previous  year. 

In  the  event  of  there  being  a  tie  between  two  stations  voted 
for,  the  Tournament  shall  be  held  at  that  station  at  which  it  was 
not  held  the  previous  year. 

8.  The  Honorary  Secretary  for  the  year  will  as  soon  as 
possible  assemble  a  Committee  of  three,  who  will  decide  the  date 


APPENDIX  493 

on  which  the  Tournament  is  to  be  held  in  accordance  with  Bye- 
Law  7. 

9.  No  pony  shall  play  for  two  different  teams  during  one 
Tournament ;  they  must  be  the  bona  -fide  and  unconditional 
property  of  the  Officers,  Non-Commissioned  Officers,  or  men  of 
the  Battalion  or  Regiment  which  the  team  represents. 

Number  of  ponies  for  each  team  is  limited  to  18. 

10.  Each  match  shall  consist  of  six  periods  of  five  minutes 
each. 

11.  The  Tournament  shall  not  be  held  under  any  circum- 
stances at  the  same  time  as  the  Inter-Regimental  Tournament. 

12.  No  number  of  wins  entitles  any  Regiment  to  obtain 
possession  of  the  Cup. 

Winners 

1904.  1st  Seaforth  Highlanders. 

1903.  2nd  Queen's. 

1902.  2nd  gueen's. 

1 90 1.  3rd  Rifle  Brigade. 

1900.  3rd  Rifle  Brigade. 

1899.  2nd  South  Wales  Borderers. 

1898.  No  Tournament. 

1897.  2nd  Durham  Light  Infantry. 

1896.  2nd  Durham  Light  Infantry. 

1895.  2nd  Durham  Light  Infantry. 

1894.  2nd  Durham  Light  Infantry. 

1893.  2nd  Gloucester  Regiment. 

1892.  2nd  Gloucester  Regiment. 

1 891.  2nd  West  York  Regiment. 

1890.  2nd  Royal  Irish  Regiment. 

1889.  1st  King's  Own  Scottish  Borderers. 

1888.  1st  Duke  of  Wellington's  Regiment. 

1887.  1st  Duke  of  Wellington's  Regiment. 

1886.  1st  Duke  of  Wellington's  Regiment. 

1885.  1st  King's  Own  Scottish  Borderers. 

1884.  1st  King's  Own  Scottish  Borderers. 


494        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 


NATIVE  CAVALRY  POLO  TOURNAMENT 

A  Challenge  Cup  to  be  competed  for  annually  by  all  Regi- 
ments of  Bengal  and  Punjab  Cavalry  and  Central  India  Horse. 

This  Cup  can  never  become  the  permanent  property  of  any 
Regiment. 

The  place  for  the  Native  Cavalry  Polo  Tournament  for  the 
following  year  will  be  fixed  at  the  general  meeting  held  during 
the  Polo  Tournament  week. 

The  date  of  Native  Cavalry  Polo  Tournament  will  be  fixed 
by  the  majority  of  votes  of  the  first  entries,  closing  on  the  15th 
November  in  the  season  in  which  it  is  played.  The  votes  of 
competing  teams  only  will  be  considered,  and  should  be  addressed 
to  the  Honorary  Secretary  as  early  as  possible. 

Competing  teams  must  play  at  least  three  British  Ofiicers. 
The  fourth  player  may  be  a  Native  Officer  or  Dufi*adar. 

Teams  are  limited  to  sixteen  ponies  j5er  team,  which  must  be 
unconditionally  and  bona  fide  the  property  of  Officers,  Non- 
commissioned Officers,  or  men  of  the  Regiment  which  the  team 
represents. 

During  the  Tournament  games  will  be  played  morning  and 
evening  as  decided  by  the  drawing,  in  order  to  enable  all,  both 
players  and  spectators  alike,  to  watch  the  Tournament  through- 
out, and  to  avoid  the  difficulty  experienced  when  two  games  are 
being  played  simultaneously  of  finding  the  Umpires,  etc. 

The  games  shall  consist  of  six  periods  of  five  minutes'  each 
actual  play. 

Seconded  Officers  may  play  for  their  Regiments.  With  the 
above  exception,  no  Officer  will  be  permitted  to  represent  his 
Regiment  unless  he  is  actually  entitled  to  a  portion  of  the 
Regimental  pay  for  the  date  the  match  is  played. 

In   the   instance   of  an   Officer   being  permanent  with  one 


APPENDIX  495 

Regiment,  but  officiating  in  another,  he  is  eligible  to  play  only 
in  the  team  of  the  Regiment  with  which  he  is  officiating. 

Any  Regiment  prepared  to  compete  for  the  Cup  at  the  fixed 
time  and  place,  vide  condition  (II.),  can  claim  to  be  the  winners 
of  the  same  for  that  year. 

Indian  Polo  Association  Rules  to  be  in  force  except  where 
otherwise  stated. 

Winners 


1904. 

nth  Lancei 

's,  won  f 

rom  9th  n.hl. 

1903. 

19th  B.L. 

15th  B.L. 

1902. 

1 8th  B.L. 

19th  B.L. 

I90I. 

1 8th  B.L. 

2nd  B.L. 

1900. 

1 8th  B.L. 

17th  B.C. 

1899. 

18th  B.L. 

8th  B.C. 

1898. 

8th  B.C. 

5th  P.C. 

1897. 

2nd  C.LH. 

17th  B.C. 

1896. 

1 8th  B.L. 

Guides. 

1895. 

1 8th  B.L. 

1 2th  B.C. 

1894. 

9th  B.L. 

1 8th  B.L. 

1893. 

9th  B.L. 

1 8th  B.L. 

1892. 

14th  B.L. 

1 2th  B.C. 

I89I. 

9th  B.L. 

19th  B.L. 

1890. 

9th  B.L. 

14th  B.L. 

1889. 

No  Tournament. 

1888. 

1 8th  B.L.  won  from 

1 2th  B.C. 

1887. 

9th  B.L. 

>» 

1 2th  B.C. 

1886. 

1 8th  B.L. 

j> 

1 2th  B.C. 

1885. 

1 8th  B.C. 

5» 

1 2th  B.C. 

1884. 

nth  B.L. 

»» 

2nd  C.LH. 

1883. 

12th  B.C. 

1? 

1 8th  B.C. 

496        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 


o 

Q 
O 

Q 
W 

H 

S 
D 


PQ 

3 

u 

o 
o 


s 

C/5 

0           0  vo                                                :                         «■    60                ■" 

1 

s 

1 

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0 

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1 

Ov'r  100 

120 
29 

Abt.  20 
„    20 

s 

North  Camp,  Aider- 
shot  Town,  and 
Farnborough  (about 
I  mile) 

Bedford,  M.R.  and  L. 
&  N.W.R.  (i^  miles) 

Milborne  Port  (i  mile), 
Templecombe  (3), 
Sherborne  (3^) 

Bowdon     and     Altrin- 
cham 

Wimbledon  Park 

Stamford,  G.N.R., 
M.R.,  and  L.  & 
N.W.R.  (about  I 
mile) 

Cambridge,  G.E.R.  and 
G.N.R.      (about     2 

4 

o 

6 

Queen's  Parade,  Aider- 
shot  (two  grounds) 

Old  Race  Meadow, 
Bedford 

Two  grounds  at  Spurles 
(one  boarded)^  and 
two  at  Purse  Caun- 
dle,  Milborne  Port 
(one  boarded) 

Dunham,  Bowdon, 
Cheshire 

Wimbledon      Park, 
S.W. 

Burghley    Deer    Park, 
^     mile     south     of 
Stamford  Town 

Trumpington,       Cam- 
bridge 

re 
1 

Captain  W.  Long, 
D.S.O.,  Cavalry  Bri- 
gade Office,  Aider- 
shot 

Mr.  J.  G.  Vercy,  The 
Crescent,  Bedford 

Mr.  H.  E.  Lambe, 
Stalbridge,  Dorset 

Mr.  K.  Crostley,  Park 
Dale,  Bowdon, 
Cheshire 

Hon.  Secretary  ( ), 

Brigade  of  Guards 
Polo  Club,  Wimble- 
don Park,  S.W. 

Mr.  Blundell  Williams, 
Stamford,  Lines 

Mr.      Walter      Mont- 
gomery, 22  Portugal 

Estab- 
lished. 

1900 
1899 

1891 
1892 

Name  of  Club. 

Aldershot 

1  Bedford  County 
Blackmore  Vale 

Bowdon  . 

Brigade  of  Guards     . 

Burghley  Park 

I  Cambridge     Univer- 

I; 


APPENDIX 


497 


^ 


So     as 


N 


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«   "^  "  V  c  ^  "  ■ 

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O     ^ 


oSi 
SJ 


c  .. 
o  „ 


"oL, 

d 

o 


.^ 


S2 


oq  j3 


J5  ^--^ 

^-2 


6  ^  S 
Smeq 


c  «  _    •  «" 
."  ^  "5  '^  g      tJ 


^ 


o  U  kP 


c/}CQ 


S  2 

U  to 
C 


3  U 


5>-^      «  ?^^ 


J3  '-' 


O 


S  K 


=^  4-. 


;z|o 


^1  E  ^  t^'  ^ 


O    >H 


^-  CQ  fe  Q  v:  O  U  c/i  u  «   g  ffi  G- 

s        s        s   ffi 


2  K 


498        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 


S2 


d 
S2 


o     . 


o  CI2 
S2 


"  c 


■*    N    fc    ° 


to    »■  y  to 

S2         S2 


°    n     to* 


cm  J; 
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S2 


c   Si 


8 


t;  s  s  c 

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d,*' 


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w  c  rl       hJ 


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a:  a  u 


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APPENDIX 


499 


§  2 


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S2 


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US  2^ 


Si. 

> 
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vr^ 

Jg 

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S2 

B 

u 

s 

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2 

o 

Oh  O 

rt 

>, 

, 

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S2 

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'^ 

cT  g  «  S  -g  .S  -^  " 


.t:  o 


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«  «■       «       «  -^   "^   •  • 


c    . 


S? 


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J2Q 


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4-*    o 


a 

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S  d 


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500        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 


«j    o 


2  8  "^ 


Oh 

«=      ^      « 


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c  « 

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S2  S2  -^  S2         <n2 


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APPENDIX  501 


1=  il-f. 


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<»    ..  "  «    hr.  ••  'r     ••    w    "    y  m  iJfi  ex  <"  ^  m    ..    _    to 

M  _,    "-^    rt    >-•  t-t    ra  -^    *^    tj    5£    "^  «    ^^ 

lis?      ,'^  "  .S  Si'S.Sj  **  S2'H-        •  '■  ^  ^  >  S  S2 "  «^"n2  " 


o  ■<♦■  o>  u  «3 

vo  .  :  N  .  N   S  < 


^"a 


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—   o 


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« 

C    i~ 

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a 

c  fe 

^ 

J!«! 

^ 

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0 

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;z: 

5 

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>^    u 

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SS  S  SS2S  S2 


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tv. 

c^ 

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t^ 

00 

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00 

00 

00 

"^ 

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o  5  c  3 

o  u  •        ^  u 

a"  i  --  c" 


5  ^ 

Jb, 


502        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 


3 

2*        2                         it        i 

«           JS                                  c            c           JS 
-a.         -H.                              c           c    ^       a, 

«n2         'n?     ^         Ni         'n?         ^         Sj 

i 

i 

.    52 

If 

o 

ON 

O             r^            o             o            ^ 

< 

CL 

O              OO                O                ^J'^              ^ 

2 
to 

S 

1 

Kilkenny  (2  miles) 

Birr  (4  miles)  j  Roscrea 

(5  miles) 
Dundalk     . 

Sligo  (about  2  miles)    . 

MuUingar  (3  miles)     . 

Float,     M.G.W.R     (3 
miles) 

Enniscorthy    (about     i 
mile) 

Grounds. 

Prospect,  Kilkenny      . 

Sharavogue  Park 

Dundalk      Demesne, 
Dundalk 

Hazlewood      Demesne, 
Sligo 

Ledeston,  MuUingar     . 

Lord  Longford's  De- 
mesne, Pakenham 
Hall 

North-west  of  Ennis- 
corthy               ^ 

Mr.  George  Smith- 
wick,  Prospect  Park, 
Kilkenny 

Mr.  Hubert  A.  Gaird- 
ner,  Croghan,  Birr 

Mr.  J.  St.  P.  Macardle, 
Cambrecoille,  Dun- 
dalk 

Major  L.  C.  Wynne, 
Mount  Shannon, 
Sligo 

Mr.  J.  R.  M.  Malone, 
Bryanston,  MuUin- 
gar 

Mr.  Hugh  Wilson, 
Coolure,  Coole,  Co. 
Westmeath 

N.  Furlong,  Lyming- 
ton  House,  Ennis- 
corthy 

II 

1888 

1895 
1897 

1880 
1900 
1895 

Name  of  Club. 

Kilkenny,  County    . 

King's  County 
Louth,  County 

Sligo,  County  . 

Westmeath 

Westmeath,  North   . 

Wexford,  County      . 

a<  c 

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8 

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«  Zl.(A  -0 

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4) 

« 

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9 

s 

. 

i   1-  _c   0 

-q    3   u    0 

^  ,-S    3  f^ 

r.  James  H 
furd,  14  Or 
Street,       E 
Telegrams 
Edinburgh 

S 

0 

00 

00 

M 

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W 

THE  POLO  AND  RIDING  PONY  SOCIETY 

(incorporated) 

Objects. 

Established  to  promote  the  breeding  of  ponies  for  Polo,  Riding, 
and  Military  Purposes  ;  and  for  the  encouragement  of  Native 
Breeds. 

Prizes  and  Medals. 

The  Society  numbers  620  Members,  and  annually  offers  ^£'900 
in  Prizes  and  Medals  at  its  own  London  Spring  Show,  at  the 
Royal  Show,  and  at  over  twenty-five  Associated  Country  Shows. 
In  1895  and  in  1896  successful  Shows  were  held  at  Ranelagh  and 
Hurlingham. 

The  London  Spring  Shows  have  proved  of  real  value  and 
benefit  to  the  Breeders  of  Riding  Ponies. 

Stud  Book. 

Seven  volumes  have  been  issued  which  include  the  registered 
entries  of  283  Stallions  and  1357  Mares,  with  numerous  portraits, 
illustrating  the  best  specimens  of  British  and  Eastern  blood, 
statistical  statements,  and  the  reports  of  the  London  Shows  from 
1900  to  1902  inclusive. 

Volumes  V.  VI.  VII.  and  VIII.  contain  the  entries  of  the 
following  Mountain  and  Moorland  Breeds  : — Connemara,  Dart- 
moor, Exmoor,  Fell,  Highland,  New  Forest,  and  Welsh.  This 
departure,  which  is  the  first  organised  effort  to  place  the 
registration  of  the  various  native  breeds  of  British  Ponies  on  a 
satisfactory  basis,  has  a  two-fold  object  : — (i)  To  preserve,  and 

503 


504        POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 

by  careful  selection  to  improve,  the  Native  Breeds.  (2)  To 
establish  a  record  list  of  foundation  stock  of  approved  mares 
easily  accessible  to  the  breeders  of  Polo  Ponies. 

Stud  Book  and  Supplements. 
Young  Ponies — not  exceeding  3  years  old — are  now  received 
for  entry  in  the  Annual  Supplement  ;  Ponies — over  that  age — 
in  the  Stud  Book,  if  eligible  under  rules  and  of  proper  height. 

Membership, 

Members  pay  an  annual  subscription  of  ^f  i  :  is.,  and  receive, 
[a)  Gratis  a  copy  of  the  current  issue  of  the  Stud  Book  or 
Annual  Supplement ;  ij?)  Free  admission  to  the  London  Spring 
Show  and  Grand  Stand  ;  {c)  Substantial  reduction  of  entry  fees 
for  the  Show  ;  (^)  and  of  those  for  Vol.  VIII.  of  the  Stud  Book 
and  Annual  Supplements ;  {e)  Purchase  of  back  Volumes  at  a 
third  of  the  cost  to  non-members. 


WELSH  PONY  AND  COB  SOCIETY 

Rules 

1.  That  the  name  of  the  Society  be  "Welsh  Pony  and 
Cob  Society"  and  that  Wales  and  Monmouthshire  shall  form 
the  Society's  governing  District. 

2.  That  the  objects  of  the  Society  be  the  Improvement  and 
Encouragement  of  the  Breeding  of  Welsh  Mountain  Ponies, 
Welsh  Ponies  and  Cobs,  and  that  a  Stud  Book  be  formed  for  the 
Registration  of  Pedigrees  and  detailed  descriptions  of  Height  and 
Colour,  and  that  it  be  called  the  Welsh  Pony  and  Cob  Stud 
Book.  To  appoint  a  Bench  of  qualified  Judges,  approved  and 
recommended  by  the  Council,  to  the  various  Shows  in  the 
Principality. 

3.  That  there  be  a  President,  two  Vice-Presidents,  one  for 
South  Wales  and  one  for  North  Wales,  Treasurer,  and  Secretary. 


APPENDIX  505 

4.  That  there  be  a  Council  of  thirty-nine  members  (seven 
to  form  a  quorum),  thirteen  to  retire  annually,  and  to  be  eligible 
for  re-election.  That  the  representatives  of  each  county  be 
voted  for  by  the  Members  in  each  County. 

5.  That  there  be  an  Editing  Committee  and  a  General 
Purpose  and  Finance  Committee,  each  consisting  of  Five 
Members.     Three  to  form  a  quorum. 

6.  That  the  Officers  of  the  Society  be  elected  at  the  Annual 
General  Meeting  of  the  Society. 

7.  That  Donors  of  Ten  Pounds  be  Life  Members.  That 
an  Annual  Subscription  of  One  Pound  constitute  Membership, 
but  that  bona-Jide  Tenant  Farmers  be  admitted  on  the  payment 
of  Five  Shillings  annually.  Subscriptions  are  due  on  the  first 
July  each  year.  Subscribers  of  j^i  will  receive  a  copy  of  the 
Stud  Book  free.  Subscribers  of  5s.,  on  payment  of  2s.  6d.  New 
Members  can  have  back  volumes  at  3s.  6d.  each.  Further  copies 
may  be  had  at  5  s. 

8.  That  the  following  Rules  and  Regulations  apply  to  the 
entry  of  Ponies  and  Cobs  : — 

{a)  The  limit  for  the  height  of  Foundation  Mares  and  Stallions 
in  the  Welsh  Mountain  Pony  Section,  "A,"  shall  not  exceed 
12.2  hands,  in  Welsh  Pony  Section,  "  B,"  shall  not  exceed  13.2 
hands,  in  Cob  Section,  "  C,"  shall  be  from  13.2  hands  to  14.2 
hands,  and  in  Cob  Section,  "D,"  shall  be  from  14.2  hands  to 
15.2  hands.  All  heights  and  markings  to  be  registered  with 
entry. 

{b)  The  Council  shall  appoint  Judges  in  different  districts 
who  shall  inspect,  and  no  Foundation  Stallions  or  Mares  shall  be 
entered  in  the  Stud  Book  until  a  Certificate  has  been  signed  by 
an  Inspection  Judge,  and  in  the  case  of  a  Stallion,  the  Certificate 
must  be  accompanied  by  a  Certificate  stating  that  the  Stallion  is 
sound,  and  signed  by  a  qualified  Veterinary  Surgeon.  The 
produce  by  a  registered  sire  and  from  a  registered  dam  will  be 
eligible  for  entry. 

(r)   Judges    are   requested  not   to  grant   Certificates   to   any 


5o6        POLO  :   PAST  AND  PRESENT 

animal  they  consider  to  be  affected  with  any  hereditary  disease, 
and  in  the  case  of  Mares  and  Stallions  not  being  full  grown, 
to  reject  those  which,  in  their  opinion,  are  likely  to  grow  over 
12.2  hands  and  15.2  hands.  Animals  two  years  old  may  be 
provisionally  registered  with  complete  registration  at  five  years 
old.  Should  the  Judges  have  any  doubt  as  to  the  soundness  of 
any  mare,  they  may  call  in  a  Veterinary  Surgeon. 

(d)  All  Members  of  Council  are  Inspection  Judges,  two  of 
whom  have  power  to  appoint  other  judges  in  the  districts  when 
they  may  be  required. 

{e)  The  Entrance  Fee  for  Marcs  shall  be  :  Members,  2s. ; 
Non-Members,  5s.  ;  each  year's  produce,  2s.  ;  and  Stallions  : 
Members,  los. ;  Non-Members,  20s.  each.  All  Fees  to  be  sent 
with  entry. 

{/)  Any  change  in  the  name  of  an  animal  entered  in  future 
volumes  of  the  Stud  Book  will  not  be  recognised  by  the  Secretary. 

9.  Any  Member  wishing  to  propose  any  alteration  in  the 
Rules  must  give  notice  in  writing  to  the  Secretary-,  specifying 
the  nature  thereof,  fourteen  days  prior  to  the  ist  July. 


INDEX 


AfrSsiab,  9-13 

Agassiz,  Mr.,  70,  71,  j-j,  261 

Ailcman,  Mr.  D.  Robertson,  106 

Airlie,  the  late  Lord,  107 

Akbar,  Emperor,  i8,  21 

Aldershot  Cup,  the,  64 

Aldershot  Cup  Ties,  381 

All  Ireland  Polo  Club,  88 

American  Polo  Association,  the,  296, 
297,  320 

America,  Polo  in,  209,  295-321  ; 
growth  of,  297  ;  the  ground,  goal- 
posts, balls,  and  mallets,  298  ; 
ponies,  299  ;  periods,  300-301  ; 
eligibility,  302  ;  system  of  handi- 
capping, 303  J  entries,  303  ;  draw- 
ings, uniform,  and  colours,  304 ; 
championships,  305;  "all  star" 
team,  the,  306  j    the  Field    Rules, 

306  J     disqualification     of     ponies, 

307  ;  timer  and  scorer,  goal  judges, 
substitute,  clear  field  and  choice  of 
ends,  308  J  change  of  ends,  throw- 
in,  goal,  safety,  score,  309 ;  time 
limits,  tie,  310;  out  of  bounds, 
knock-in,  player  substituted,  311  ; 
handicap,  fouls,  312}  dangerous 
riding,  313  }  crossing,  meeting,  and 
other  prohibitions,  314  ;  fines,  315  ; 
penalties,  suspension  of  play,  acci- 
dent, broken  ball,  316;  change  of 
ponies,  other  cause,  time  lost, 
referee's  whistle,  failure  to  finish, 
317  J  American  ponies,  320-321. 

Anderton,  Mr.,  56 

Ardishtr,  13 

Argentina,  209  ;  the  South  American 

players  from,  262 
Army  Cup,  the,  64,  95,  381 


Army  Polo  Committee,  the,  53,  97, 
113,  117,  28r 

Arthur,  Mr.,  40 

Asta,  Mr.,  277 

Australia,  Polo  in,  286-294  j  the  Polo 
Association  of  New  South  Wales, 
286,  287  j  height  of  ponies,  288  j 
system  of  measurement,  289  j  size 
of  ground,  290  ;  question  of  riding 
off,  291  J  hints  to  players  from  the 
New  South  Wales  Book  of  Rules, 
292  ;  system  of  handicapping  in 
Victoria,  293 

Ava,  Lord,  58 


Bahram  IV.,  13 

Baldock,  Mr.  E.  H.,  41,  56 

Ball,  the,  22  ;  accustoming  the  pony 

to,    139-143  ;    practice    with,    158- 

162  ;  in  America,  298 
Barn  Elms,  57 

Barnard  of  Jermyn  Street,  207 
Beaufort,  the  late  Duke  of,  55 
Bentinck,  Lord  William,  107 
Bentley,  Mr.  Cumberland,  35 
Bits,  for  polo  ponies,  127,  128,  200 
Blackmore  Vale  Polo  Club,  87,  241 
Boards,  the,  231,  235 
Boots,  Rugby  Polo,  201 
Brand,  Major,  107 
Brassey,  Mr.  E.,  274 

H.,  274,  275,  276 

Breeding,  Polo  Pony,  209-224 
Bridle,  riding  without   the,  154;    for 

polo  ponies,  200 
Brown,   Mr.   Moray,   38,   39,  48,  59, 

60,  85,  142,  167,  251,  330,  339 
Buckmaster,  Mr.  W.,  49,  67,  68,  70, 


507 


5o8 


POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 


71, 78,  109,  146,  162,  163,  177, 
179, 182, 256, 257, 258, 273 }  277 

Bucknall,  Mr.  L.,  80 
BuUivant,  Mr.  Percy,  80 
Bushe,  Captain,  108 
Byzantium,  15 


Campbell,  Mr.  (now  Major)  D.  G.  M., 

106 
Capel  Cure,  Major,  102,  245 
Carey,  Captain,  251 
Castlereagh,  Lord,  34 
Catterick  Bridge  Polo  Club,  241,  282, 

293 

Cavendish,  the  Hon.  C.  C.  (Major- 
General  Lord  Chesham),  41,  55 

Champion  Cup,  the  Open,  37  ;  of 
1877,  40;  of  1894,  43  5  of  1897, 
48  }  64  ;  68 ;  of  1884,  249  }  252 

Championship,  the,  381 

Chaplin,  Mr.  Henry,  55 

Chardin,  22 

Chislehurst  Polo  Club,  81,  82 

Chosroes  IL,  13,  16 

Chukker,  the,  339 

Cinnamus,  15 

Cirencester  Polo  Club,  88,  241,  284 

Clarke,  Sir  Stanley,  58 

Clover  on  polo  grounds,  230 

Club,  the  Polo,  its  appliances  and  ex- 
penses, 225-241  ;  care  and  improve- 
ment of  the  ground,  225  j  choice  of 
ground,  227  J  top-dressing  of  field, 
229  J  the  boards,  231  j  slopes,  231- 

232  }  goal-posts,  232  ;  the  pavilion, 

233  ;  the  wearing  of  colours,  234  5 
shelter  for  carriages,  234  ;  the  staff, 
234 }  expenses  we  can  do  without, 
235;  height  of  ponies,  236}  the 
subscription,  237  j  approximate  esti- 
mate of  the  expenses  of  a  London 
club,  238  ;  weakly  and  unsatisfac- 
tory turf,  239  ;  manure,  240  j  ex- 
penses of  a  country  club,  240  j 
scoring  board  at  Ranelagh,  241 

Clubs,  Polo- 
All  Ireland  Polo  Club,  88 
Blackmore  Vale,  87,  241 
Catterick  Bridge,  241,  282,  293 
Chislehurst,  81,  82 
Cirencester,  88,  241,  284 
County  Dublin,  282 


Clubs,  Polo,  continued — 

Eden  Park,  80,  81,  84,  228,  233, 

282,  330 
Edinburgh,  the,  36,  253    , 
Feltham  Park,  8i 

Freebooters,  the,  43,  45,  46,  47,  49, 

64,  i79»  249,  306 
Fremington,  241 
Hurlingham,  the,  22,  24-53,  S^->  ^^j 

75»  79»  87,   95,   228,  237,  240, 

283,  295,  323,  330 
International  Gun  and  Polo   Club, 

Brighton,  34,  40,  42 
Leamington,  87,  255,  284 
Liverpool,  87,  253 
London  Polo  Club,  83 
Market  Harborough,  228,  255 
Monmouthshire,  36,  40 
Ranelagh,  48,  53,  54-74,  75,  76,  95, 

225,  233>  237»  253»295»  33° 

Roehampton,  53,  65,  76-79,  233, 
237,296 

Rugby,  48,  49,  65,  76,  77,  81,  87, 
111,178,179,182,183,254,255, 
256,  284,  306 

Staffordshire,  40 

Stansted,  81,  82,  233 

United  Service  Club,  40 

Warwickshire,  81 

Wimbledon,  75 

Woolwich,  84 

Worcester,  237 
Cole,  Lord,  34 
Colvin,  Captain  G.,  106 
Combination  in  Polo,  178-181 
County  Cup,  the,  37,  81,  85,  252  j  in 

Ireland,  90 

Dublin  Club,  282 

Polo  Association,  52,  53,  81,  84- 

93,   236,  252,  253,  268,  283,  323, 

Polo  Union,  the  Irish,  90 

Cowdin,  Mr.,  70,  72,  77^  261 

Crystal  Palace,  the,  83 

Cumberland,  Major,  251 

Cunard,  Sir  Bache,  41 

Cunningham,  Colonel  David,  246 

Cups,  Polo — Army  Cup,  64,  95,  381  j 
Aldershot  Cup,  64,  38 1  j  the  County 
Cup,  37,  81,  85,  90,  252;  Hunt 
Challenge  Cup,  64,  66  j  Inaugura- 
tion Cup,  77  j  Inter-Regimental  Cup, 
37,  42,  1X2}  Novices'  Cup,  64,  78  j 


INDEX 


509 


Open  Champion  Cup,  37,  4.0,  42,  43, 
48,  64,  68,249,252  J  Public  Schools' 
Cup,  78  ;  Ranelagh  Open  Cup,  69, 
"j"]^  381  ;  Roehampton  Cup,  78  } 
Social  Clubs'  Cup,  37  j  Subalterns' 
Cup,  64 
Curre,  Mr.  Edward,  40 

Dale,  the  late  Major,  R.A.,  250 
Daly,  Captain  Denis   St.  George,  43, 

44,  46,  47,  49,  53,  157,  252,  254 
Darley,  Colonel  Sanders,  80 
Datchet,    ground    of    the    Household 

Cavalry  at,  228 
De  Las  Casas,  the,  178,  274  j  275 
De  Lisle,  Captain,  252 

Colonel,  III,  235 

Drage,  Major,  104 
Drybrough,  Mr.  Jack,  183 

Mr.  T.  B.,  194,  229,  355 

the  late  Mr.  W.  J.,  48,  50,  67, 

177,  182,  255,  256 
Durand,  Colonel  Algernon,  6  note,  19 

Earthworm,  an  ally  of  the  polo  mana- 
ger, 238-239 

Eden  Park  Club,  the,  80,  81-83,  84, 
228,  233,  282,  330 

Edinburgh  Polo  Club,  36,  253 

Ellison,  Mr.,  274 

Eton  and   Harrow,  matches   between, 

37 
Expenses  of  a  London  club,  237 
Ezra,  Mr.,  276 


Feltham  Park  Polo  Club,  8 1 

Ferguson,  Major  Victor,  61,  104 

Firdousi,  16,  17,  20 

Fitzgerald,  Captain,  104 

Freake,  Mr.  F.  M.,  67,  70,  71,   146, 

178,  180,  256,  273,  275,  283 
Freebooters  Polo  Club,  the,  43,  45,  46, 

47,  49,  64,  179,  306 
Fremington  Polo  Club,  the,  241 


Garnett,  Colonel  Cecil,  244 
Gilbey,  Mr.  Guy,  81,  82,  178 

Mr.  Tresham,  82,  85,  86,  178 

Gill,  Mr.,  69,  70,  72 

F.  A.,  65,  70,  274,  275,  277,  278 


Goal-posts,  polo,  Persian,  7  j  22,  232, 

298  }  Indian,  379 
Gold,  Mr.  Gerald,  82,  178 

Mr.  P.,  82,  178 

Gough,  Captain  Charles,  109,  252 
Green,  Major  Egerton,  29,  240  ;  276 
Grenfells,  the,  178 
Greville,  Captain,  61 

Mr.  A.,  35 

Ground,  the  polo-,  the  Persian,  7 ;  of 
Ispahan,  18,  22  ;  Hurlingham,  26, 
28,  29  ;  Phcenix  Park,  88,  89  ,  can; 
and  improvement  of,  225  j  choice 
of,  227  j  size  of  in  Australia,  290  j 
in  America,  298  j  329,  330 

Guards,  235 

Gurdit  Singh,  109 

Gymkhanas,  231 


Haig,  Captain  Douglas,  292 

Captain  Neil,  173,  273,  277 

Major-General,  219  ;  292 

Major  Peter,  247 

Hamilton,  Major-General  Bruce,  244 

Handicapping,  the  American  System 
of,  302 

Thoughts   and    Suggestions   on, 

266-285  ;  the  old  method,  266-267J 
the  recent  form  list,  268  ;  expressing 
the  handicap  value  of  each  player  in 
terms  of  goals,  269  ;  Mr.  Dale's 
system,  273-278  ;  classifying  tourna- 
ments, 278-279  ;  handicapping  the 
ponies,  280-281  j  the  American 
system,  282  ;  the  suggestions  sum- 
marised, 284-285. 

Hardy,  Mr.  Gerald,  43,  47,  49,  53, 
167,  207 

Hargreaves,  Mr.  F.,  67,  274 

Harman,  Captain,  274 

Harrild,  Mr.  W.,  258 

Harrington,  Lord,  37,  44,45,  46,  53, 
56,  118 

Hartington,  Lord  (Duke  of  Devon- 
shire), 55 

Hastings,  Dr.  George,  58,  59,  229 

Hazard,  Mr.  W.  A.,  295 

Heathcote,  Mr.  Frank,  24 

Herbert,  Captain,  now  Major  F.,  37, 
40,  54,  58,  83,  254 

Mr.  H.  L.,  of  New  York,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Polo  Association,  295 


5IO 


POLO  :    PAST  AND  PRESENT 


Herbert,  Mr.  R.,  of  Clytha,  34,  40, 
54,  57,  65 

Heseltine,  Captain  Godfrey,  61,  258, 
274,  275,  276 

Hira  Singh,  19,  109,  no 

Hohler,  Mr.  E.  T.,  61 

Holland,  Captain,  276 

Hone,  Captain  T.,  249 

Horlick,  Mr.,  276 

Howard,  Mr.,  40 

Hunt  Challenge  Cup,  the,  64  j  of 
1899,  66 

Hunt  Tournament,  the,  64 

Hunt,  the  Pytchley,  66,  67 

the  Warwickshire,  66,  67 

Hurling  on  horseback,  89 

Hurlingham,  22  j  the  club  and  its 
influence  on  polo,  24-53  >  founding 
of  the  club,  24;  situation,  25  j  the 
field  and  boards,  26  ;  pavilion,  27  ; 
ground,  28  ;  rules,  30-32  j  the  old 
code  of  rules,  35  ;  progress  of  the 
game,  36-40  ;  some  famous  games, 
40-50  ;  the  polo  committee,  52  ;  56, 
62,  75,  79,  87,  95,  218,  228,  237, 
240,  283,  295,  323,  330,  376 

Hurlingham  Polo  Committee,  the,  29, 
36,  52,  81,  87,  270,  322,  323,  327, 

340,  351,  372 
Hurrell,  Mr.,  25 

Inauguration  Cup,  the,  "j-j 
India,  polo  in,  18,  33,  347 
Indian    Polo   Association,    297,    319, 

324,  333,  340  J  rules  of  the,  369, 

404 
Indian  Polo  Calendar,  399 
International    Gun    and    Polo    Club, 

Brighton,  34,  40,  42 
Inter-Regimental  Cup,  the,   37,  42  j 

112 

Tournaments  of  1903-1904,  80  j 

95,  99;  of  1895,  105  J  108,  249, 
252,  304,  381 

Ispahan,  the  polo  ground  of,  18 

Japan,  polo  in,  19 

Jenner,  Captain  L.  C.  D.,  65,  72,  73, 

146,  274,  276,  278 
Jessop,  Mr.  Jovey,  207 
Jones,  Mr.  Walter,  78,  274,  275,  276, 
■     277,  278 


Kavanagh,  Colonel,  107 

Keene,    Mr.    Foxhall,    71,    72,    261, 

297,  353 
Kennedy,  Mr.  T.,  37,  n8,  183,  254 
Khusru  Parvez,  13,  14 
Kirk,  Major,  108 
Kitcat  Club,  the,  59 
Knighton  Show,  the,  215 
Knowles,  Mr.  A.  M.,  6i 


Ladies  as  polo  players,  14,  2 1 

Ladies'  Nomination  Tournament,  the, 

Lamont,  Major,  106 

Lannowe,  Captain,  274 

Leamington  Polo  Club,  the,  87,  255, 
284 

Le  Gallais,  Captain  (Colonel),  44,  45, 
46,47,  49,  I02,  146,  167,  235 

Lewes,  Lord,  56 

Lewinger,  Mr.  Charles,  58 

Lillie  Bridge,  the  ground  at,  330 

Little,  Captain  (now  Colonel)  Mal- 
colm, 105,  106,  167 

Liverpool  Polo  Club,  the,  87,  253 

Lloyd,  Captain  H.,  273,  275 

London  Polo  Club,  the,  83 

Lords  and  Commons,  matches  between, 
37 


M'Creery,  Mr.  L.,  275 

Mr.  W.,  70,  274,  275 

Mackey,  Mr.  F.  J.,  67 
Maclaren,  Captain  (now  Major),  102, 
106,  107,  177,  182,  235,  245,  253, 

377 
Magpies,  the,  64,  184,  306 
Manuel  Comnenus,  15 
Marjoribanks,  Captain,  104,  1 82,^274, 

276 
Market  Harborough  Club,  ground  of 

the,  228,  255 
Marlborough,  the  Duke  of,  258 
Martingale,  use  of  the,  200-201 
Matches,  regulation  of,  91,  93 
Measurer,  the  Hurlingham  official,  236 
Melbourne,  polo  at,  292 
Mellor,  Mr.,  40 

Menzies,  Mr.  F.,  274,  276,  277 
Mildmay,  Mr.,  35,  37,  38,  146 
Miller,  Mr.  G.  A.,  49,  61,  67,  -j-j,  78, 


INDEX 


511 


119, 178, 180, 182, 254, 256, 273; 
275, 276, 277, 281, 283 

Miller,  Capt.,  49,  61,  76,  119,  178,  276 
C.  D.,  70,  78,   119,   178,  274, 

275,  276,  277,  278 
Capt.  E.  D.,  49,  119}   178}  254, 

256,  275,  277,  278 
Modest  Maiden,  pedigree  of,  215 
Monmouthshire  Polo  Club,  the,  36,  40 
Monson,  Capt.  the  Hon.  J.  D.,  25,  27 
Murchison,  Kenneth,  251 
Murrietta,  Mr.  A.  de,  34,  41 
Mr.  C.  de,  34,  41 


Nash,  Mr.  F.  C,  80 

Native  Cavalry  Cup,  the,  108 

New  South  Wales,  Polo  Association 

of,  286,  289 

polo  in,  292 

New  Zealand,  Polo  Association,  320 

polo  in,  39,  332,  347 

Nickalls,  Mr.  C,  67,  70,  "j"]^  82,  178, 

274,  275,  277,  278 
Mr.  M.,  -]-],  82,  178,  273,  275, 

277 
Mr  P.  W.,  67,  68,  70,  Tj,  82, 

178,  259,  273,  275,  276,  277 
Nine  Acres,  Phoenix  Park,  105 
Nizami,  13,  15,  16 
Novices'  Cup,  the,  64 


Offside,  301,  354,  390 

Old  Cantabs,  the,  65,  70,  184,257,  306 

O'Mealey,  Colonel,  246,  249 

Orr,  Captain,  243 

Owen,  Mr.  Hugh,  40 

Oxford      and      Cambridge,      matches 

between,  37 
Oxonians,  the,  306 


Patiala  Team,  the,  109,  no,  183 

Patton,  Mr.  H.  B.,  35 

Pavilion,  the,  233 

Pearson,  Professor,  216 

Peat,  Mr.  A.  E.,  34,  37,  40,  44,  45, 
56,  n8,  178,  254 

Mr.  E.,  37,  56,  118,  178 

Mr.  J.  E.,   37,  40,  41,  42,  43, 

44,  45,  46,  47,  51,  56,  118,  146, 
167,  178,  183,  252,  254,  259 


Pedder,  Captain  E.  N.,  106 

Persia,  polo  in,  1-8 

Persse,  Major,  108 

Peters,  Major  Cecil,  37,  83 

Petersham,  Lord,  56 

Phoenix  Park,  polo  ground  at,  88,  89 

Places  at  polo,  and  duties  of  players, 
169-175 

Plantain  on  polo  grounds,  230 

Player,  the  equipment  of,  206-208 

Polo,  ancient,  1-23  ;  Persian,  2  ;  the 
Byzantine  form,  3  ;  the  horse,  4  ; 
the  stick,  4  ;  three  ways  of  starting 
the  game,  6  ;  the  grounds,  7  ;  the 
first  international  match,  9  j  as  a 
game  for  women,  14  j  a  match  at 
Byzantium,  155  antiquity  of,  16, 
17  ;  in  India,  18  ;  first  game  played 
in  England,  19  5  in  Japan,  19  j  de- 
velopment of  from  the  tenth  century 
onwards,  20-23  j  the  Hurlingham 
Club  and  its  influence  on,  24-53  j 
the  Ranelagh  Club  and  the  ex- 
pansion of,  54-74  J  growth  of  in 
London  and  the  provinces,  75-93  j 
regimental,  94-116;  in  Australia, 
286-294;  in  America,  295-321; 
elementary,  148-165;  the  pony, 
149  ;  horsemanship  the  key  to  polo, 
152;  the  saddle,  153-154;  riding 
without  stirrups  and  bridle,  154; 
the  stick,  156-158;  practice  with 
the  ball,  158-162;  the  eight  polo 
strokes,  162;  goal  -  hitting,  163; 
bad  habits,  164;  tournament  and 
team  play,  166-187 

and    Riding    Pony  Society,  the, 

217,  299,  326,  327 

Association  of  New  South  Wales, 

286,  289 

caps,  207 

committee,  the,  24,   51,  52,  53, 

66,  355,  356,  362 

pony,  descent  of  the,  215 

ponies  —  Abdullah,    107,    108; 

Arthur  Roberts,  44 ;  Black  Bella, 
103,  145  ;  Black  Diamond,  82  ; 
Blackman,  43  ;  Charlton,  68  ; 
Cyclops,  44,  131;  Dynamite,  42; 
44,  45,  47  5  Early  Dawn,  96,  145  ; 
Edge,  44  ;  Elastic,  43  ;  Firefly,  42, 
44,  46 ;  Fitz,  38  ;  Johnnie,  44, 
132;  Lady  Day,  43  ;  Little  Fairy, 


512        POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 


96,  145  J  Mademoiselle,  145  j  Mar- 
tingale, 44;  Matchbox,  96;  Modest 
Maiden,  215  ;  My  Girl,  145  j 
Nimble,  38,  44 ;  Pilgrim,  104 ; 
Piper,  38,  44,  132,  145  J  Rosewater, 
197;  Sailor,  44,  45,  47,  96,  132: 
Seagull,  44  J  Siren,  145  }  Sister  Sue, 
38,44;  Skittles,  44,  204  J  Spinster, 
82  ;  Sunshine,  104;  The  Girl,  44; 
White  Rose,  44  j  Wig,  44  j  Yellow- 
man,  103,  145 
Polo  pony  breeding,  209-224 ;  the 
materials  that  go  to  the  making  of 
the  polo  pony,  213  j  probability  of 
reversion,  214-215  ;  pedigree  of 
Modest  Maiden,  215  j  the  ready 
sale  for  polo  ponies,  218  j  price  of 
trained  ponies,  220  j  value  of  polo 
pony  shows,  222 

pony,  training  of  the,  x  17-147  ; 

type  of  pony  required,  123  ;  early 
lessons,  125  ;  bitting  and  saddling, 
127-128  J  special  education,  129  ; 
use  of  spurs,  132  j  accustoming  him 
to  the  stick,  134-136  ;  an  exercise 
for  turning  sharply,  138;  accustom- 
ing him  to  the  ball,  139-143 

rules  in  England,  322-368  j  rules 

of  the  Indian  Polo  Association,  369- 
404 

stick,    the,    4-5,    22,    134-136, 

156-158 
Pony,  the  polo.     See  Polo  Pony. 

and  stable  management,  196-208  5 

qualifications    of    the     pony,    196  ; 
perfect   accord    between    horse    and 
rider,  199  j  equipment  of  the  pony, 
200-201  ;  stable  management,  201; 
wintering   in   the   open,  202  ;  bed- 
ding, 203  ;    exercise,  204 ;    feeding 
of  ponies  in  hard  work,  205  j  the 
stable,     206  ;     equipment    of     the 
player,  206 
Poore,  Major,  112,  183 
Preston  Park,  34 
Prelum  Singh,  109 
Price,  Sir  Richard  Green,  217 
Prices  of  ponies,  220 
Public  Schools'  Cup,  the,  78 
Punjab  tournament,  109 

Queensberry,  Lord,  the  late,  34 
Quia,  Mr.  Wyndham,  56 


Radnorshire  Polo  and  Riding  Pony 
Stud  Company,  215 

Ranelagh,  the  club  and  the  expansion  of 
polo,  54-74  ;  opening  of  the  club, 
55  ;  the  first  match,  56  ;  the 
ground,  6i  ;  the  pavilion,  62-63  > 
tournaments  in  1904,  64;  notable 
games,  66-73 

Novices'  Cup,  the,  78 

Open  Cup,  69,  77*381 

Polo    Club,    48,    53,    54-74; 

75,  95,  225,   233,  237,  253,  295, 

330 

Rawlinson,  Mr.  A.,  43,49,  53,  65,  72, 
78,  109,  146,  163,  167,  180,  183, 
252,  254,  273,  278,  283,  355 

Recent  form  list,  the,  268,  306 

Recollections  of  twenty  years,  242- 
265  J  my  first  knowledge  of  the 
game,  242  j  at  (^uetta,  245  ;  on 
the  frontier,  245-249  ;  English  polo 
in  1883-84,  249  ;  at  Ferozepore, 
250;  England  in  1893:  the  Inter- 
Regimental,  252  ;  influence  of  the. 
Rugby  Club,  254,  259  ;  Mr.  Buck- 
master,  257-258  J  international  polo, 
260  ;  the  American  players,  261  j 
the  South  American  players  from 
Argentina,  262  j  ponies,  263-265 

Referees.     See  Umpires 

Regimental  polo,  94-116  j  career  of  a 
polo-playing  officer,  99-103  ;  some 
famous  matches,  103-110;  system 
of  a  regimental  club,  1 1 3  j  selection 
of  ponies,  1 14  j  the  buying  of  the 
ponies,  11 5-1 16 

teams — 

I2th  Bengal  Cavalry,  109,  iii 
14th  Bengal  Lancers,  108 
Durham  Light  Infantry,  103,  no, 

III,  112,  143,  167,  184 
4th  Hussars,  252 
7th   Hussars,  112 
loth  Hussars,  103,  107,  252,  253 
13th  Hussars,   103,   106,  107,  11 1, 
143,  166,  179,  184,  245,  252,  253 
Inniskilling    Dragoons,    103,    252, 

253 
9th  Lancers,  103,  106, 107,  252,  253 
1 2th  Lancers,  252 
17th  Lancers,  252 
Queen's  Bays,  the,  103,  108,  no 
Royal  Horse  Guards,  the,  103,  104 


INDEX 


513 


Renton,  Captain  Gordon,  48,  49,  67, 
68,  146,  162,   163,   177,   178,  235, 
252,254,255,  256,259,  355 
Rich,  Messrs.,  119,  274 
Rimington,    General,    115,    146,   177, 

182,  253 
Robson,  Mr.  Scott,  65,  72,  274,  277, 

278 
Roehampton,  53,  65,  233,  237,  295 
Roehampton  Club,  the,  76-79  5  situa- 
tion, 76  J  Rugby  1/.  America,  77  j 
Rugby  "v.  Roehamption,  78  j  the 
leading  tournaments,  78  j  work 
done  by  the  Club,  79 

Cup,  the,  78 

Junior  Championship,  78 

Rogers,  Mr.  Charles  Coltman,  217 
Rose,  Captain,  the  late,  61,  103 
Roxburghe,  the  Duke  of,  104 
Rugby  polo  boots,  201 

Polo  Club,  the,  48,  49,  65,  76, 

-j-j,  81,  87,111,178,  179,  182,183, 
254,  255,  256,  284,  306 
Rules  of  polo  in  America,  298-317 

in    England,    322-368  ;    height, 

228,  324;  faking,  327  j  unsafe 
pony,  329  }  ground,  329  j  the 
first  full -sized  ground  at  Eden 
Park,  330  J  the  width,  331,*  size 
and  weight  of  balls,  whistle,  um- 
pire, referee,  332,  334 ;  time- 
keeper and  scorer,  334,  335  ;  num- 
ber of  players,  335  ;  how  the  game 
commences,  337  ;  duration  of  play, 
337  ;  excess  time,  last  period,  ex- 
ception, bell,  changing  ponies,  338  ; 
the  "chukker,"  339}  ball  hit  be- 
hind by  attacking  side,  341  j  un- 
necessary delay,  341  j  ball  hit  be- 
hind by  defending  side,  342-343  ; 
ball  thrown  in  by  the  umpire,  343  ; 
ball  out,  goals,  to  win  game,  ends 
changed,  344  j  riding  out  an  anta- 
gonist, crossing,  345  j  definition  of 
crossing,  exact  line  of  the  ball,  last 
striker,  345  j  riding  to  meet  the 
ball,  riding  at  an  angle,  riding  in 
same  direction,  left-handed  players, 
346  J  fouls,  riding  out,  347  j  cross- 
ing, 348,  351  ;  dangerous  riding, 
dangerous  use  of  stick,  rough  play, 
dangerous  rough  play,  crooking 
sticks,  striking  across  an  adversary's 


pony,  352,  354;  offside,  definition 
of  offside,  354  J  striking  pony  with 
head  of  polo  stick,  358  j  broken 
sticks,  358  ;  dismounted  player, 
359  ;  throwing  in  ball,  359  j  absent 
player,  360  j  no  person  allowed 
within  the  arena,  360  j  accidents, 
where  ball  thrown  in,  spurs  and 
blinkers,  361  ;  foul  at  end  of  match, 
substitutes  in  tournaments,  362  j 
disregard  of  umpire,  363  ;  incidents 
not  provided  for,  363  ;  penalties, 
363,  368 
Rules  in  the  Hurlingham  Club,  30-32 
Rules  of  the  Indian  Polo  Association, 
369-404}  application  to  hold  a 
tournament,  372  j  stewards,  right 
of  appeal  to  stewards,  questions  to 
be  referred  to  stewards,  limit  of 
time  and  number  of  ponies,  373  ; 
drawing  of  ties,  list  of  ponies  and 
short  description  of  tournaments, 
ponies  allowed  to  play  in  a  tour- 
nament, registration  fee  for  pony 
holding  racing  certificate,  374 ; 
application  for  measuring  of  ponies, 
local  measuring,  disqualification, 
first-class  tournaments,  375  ;  com- 
pulsory membership  376  j  size  of 
the  ground,  boundary  lines,  marking 
of  side  lines,  marking  of  back  lines, 
378  J  goal-line  and  subsidiary  goal- 
lines,  379  ;  players  and  umpires 
only  allowed  on  the  ground,  380  ; 
the  ball,  380  j  duration  of  play, 
380  J  periods,  381  ;  intervals,  382  j 
a  match,  how  decided,  383  j  goal, 
how  obtained,  383  j  subsidiary  goal, 
how  obtained,  goals  obtained  by 
unfair  play,  choice  and  change  of 
goals,  384  J  bringing  the  ball  into 
play,  starting  and  restarting  game, 
385-387  5   ball  in  and  out  of  play, 

387  J  dismounted  player,  left-handed 
play  and  catching  the  ball,  reviving 
the  ball,  crooking  or  stopping  sticks, 

388  ;  rough  play,  whips,  389  j 
no  player  to  interfere  when  offside, 
definition  of  offside,  390 ;  dan- 
gerous fouls,  definition  of  possession 
of  ball,  391  ;  crossing,  393  ;  fair 
riding,  394;  dangerous  riding,  395^ 
penalties,   penalty    for    an    ordinary 


514        POLO:    PAST  AND  PRESENT 


foul,  395  ;  penalty  for  a  dangerous 
foul,  396  J  time  allowed  for  a 
penalty,  396  ;  umpires,  umpire 
staff,  397  ;  the  whistle,  qualifica- 
tions of  umpires,  397  ;  duties  of 
umpires  as  to  stopping  the  game, 
duties  of  umpires  as  to  dangerous 
players  and  ponies,  398  5  duties  of 
umpires  as  to  reviving  the  ball,  398  j 
duties  of  goal  referees,  399  j  duties 
of  time-keeper,  399  ;  hints  to  um- 
pires, 400-404 
Rumbold,  Mr.  Horace,  19 

Saddle  for  polo  ponies,  127,  153,  200 

St.  guintin,  Mr.,  29,  240 

Savin,  Mr.  H.,  82,  83 

Schwind,  H.,  277 

Scinde,  337 

Scoring-board  at  Ranelagh,  241 

Scott,  Lord  George,  107,  108 

Shdh-nama,  the,  5,  9,  13,  14,  17 

Sheather,  Mr.,  236,  300,  327 

Shepherd,  Colonel  T.,  246 

Sheppard,  Mr.  E.  B.,  61,  274 

Shirin,  13,  14,  16 

Shirley,  Sir  Anthony,  18,  21 

Shrewsbury,  Lord,   55,  61,  256,  274, 

276,  277 
Sialk6t,  108 
Siawusch,  9,  12,  20 
Silver  Leys  Ground,  Stansted,  233 
Simpson,  the  late  Sir  H.,  327 
Slopes  on  polo  ground,  231-232,  235 
Smythe,  Captain  (now  Sir  Walter),  25, 

27,  29>  37,  42,  53,  240 
Social  Clubs'  Cup,  37 
Southampton,  Lord,  43,  45,  46,  167 
Spurs,  use  of,  132 
Stable  management.     See  Pony. 
Staffordshire  polo  club,  40 
Stansted  polo  club,  81,  82,  233 
Stick,  use  of  the,  194 
Stick-crooking,  243,  301 
Stirrups,  riding  without,  154 
Stow,  Mr.  Kenyon,   34,    35,    37,    38, 

40,  51,  55,  69,  118,  146,  183,  254 
Subalterns'  Cup,  the,  64 

tournament,  95 

Subscription  to  polo  clubs,  237 
Sydney,  polo  at,  292 
Sykes,  Major  H.  P.,  110 
P.  M.,  19 


Thibet,  18,  19 

Thynne,  Mr.,  274,  275,  276 

Tournament  polo  and  team  play,  166- 
187  J  value  of  combination,  167, 
178  J  places  at  polo  and  duties  of 
players,  169,  175  j  the  "back," 
177  ;  general  effect  of  the  changes 
coming  over  English  polo,  181  ; 
defences,  181  ;  hard  hitting,  182, 
183  ;  the  art  of  leading  a  team, 
1845  individual  practice,  184;  the 
wooden  horse,  185  j  condition  in 
the  player,  186}  qualifications  for, 
186,  187 

Tournaments,  Polo — Hunt  Tourna- 
ment, 64 }  Inter-Regimental  Tour- 
nament, 80,  95,  99,  105,  108,  249, 
252,  304,  381  J  Ladies'  Nomination 
Tournament,  78  j  Punjab  Tourna- 
ment, 109  J  Roehampton  Junior 
Championship,  78  j  Subalterns'  Tour- 
nament, 65  J  Senior  Championship 
in  America,  305  ;  Junior  Cham- 
pionship in  America,  305 

Treaders,  230 

Twynam,  Colonel,  251 

Tyros,  the,  40,  41 


Umpires,  33,  332,  333,  335,  351,  359, 
363,  397  j  hints  to,  400-404 

and  referees,  188-195  j  choice  of 

an  umpire,  189-196  j  definition  of 
offside,    191-192  J  cry  of  new  ball, 

192  J  a  fall,  193  ;  dangerous  ponies, 

193  J  use  of  the  stick,  194  j  the 
referee,  195 

United  Service  Polo  Club,  the,  40 


Valentia,  Lord,  55 
Vaughan,  Major,  276 
Vernon,  Mr.,  214,  216 
Victoria,   system  of  handicapping  in, 
293 


"  Waler"  ponies,  290 
Walker,  Mr.  W.  H.,  61,  106 
Wanklyn,  Mr.  James  Leslie,  58 
Ward,  Sir  Edward,  113 

the  late  Captain  R.,  103,  276 

Warwickshire  Polo  Club,  the,  81 


INDEX 


515 


Waterbury,  Mr.  J.  M.,  "j"] 

Mr.    L.,    69,    70,    71,    72,    -]-], 

109,  177,  178,  257,  259,  261,  319 
Mr.    M.,   69,   70,   71,   72,   73, 

178,  261 
Watering  the  polo  ground,  238 
Watson,  Mr.  John,  36,  37,  38,  49,  51, 

52,  53»  89,  90,  146,  157,  182,  183, 

185,  245,  249,  254,  377 
Welsh  Stud  Book,  the,  217 
Western,  Major,  246 
Whitla,  Major,  108 
Whip,  use  of,  389-390 
Willoughby,  Captain  Claude,  106,  107 
Wilson,   Captain   Herbert,   274,   276, 

283 
Wimbledon  Polo  Club,  the,  75 
Wise,  Mr.  F.,  106 
Withers,  Messrs.,    119,  149 
Wooden  horse,  the,  149,  185 
Woolwich  Polo  Club,  the,  84 
Worcester  Polo  Club,  the,  237 


Works  referred  to — 
Ardhhir^  13 

Baily's  Magazine,  115,  340 
Breeding  and  Riding,  by  James  Fillis, 

translated   by  Mr.  M.  H.  Hayes, 

(note)  155 
Decline  and  Fall  (Gibbon),  13 
Field,  The,  -j-j 
History  of  the  English  Turf,  by  Mr, 

Theodore  Cook,  224 
Land  and  Water,  39 
Polo  and  Riding  Pony  Stud  Book, 

by  Sir  Richard  Green  Price,  224 
Shah-nama,  the,  5,  9,  13 
Ten  Thousand  Miles  across  Persia, 

by  Major  P.  M.  Sykes,  19 
The    Making    of    a    Frontier,    by 

Colonel  A.  Durand,  6 
Variation  in  Animals  and  Plants,  by 

H.  M.  Vernon,  214,  215 

Zinc  cases  for  goal-posts,  232 


THE    END 


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